The Adventures of Richard
by whamman5
Summary: A tale about a simple teenage boy named Richard thrust into the Digital World in order to save it from the evil control of the Demon Lords. This time,though, it has to be done in an unusual way. Rated T just in case.
1. Introducing: Richard

The name is Richard Marshall, and I used to be an average fifteen-year-old "nerd." Your probably wondering what I mean by "used to be", but before I get to that you might want to know a little bit about me.

Like I said, I'm what most people would call a "nerd." For most of my life I've had that label, and to a degree I deserve it. Ever since elementary school I've been either the smartest or one of the smartest kids in my class. I answered most of the questions asked, read books at lunch, made almost complete straight A's (I still curse math class for that), and knew the school librarian on a first name basis. I even had the look of one. Partly overweight, polo shirts and khakis, and a pair of glasses. Of course, in elementary school the smart kid just happens to be the number one target of teasing, and I was no exception. Being on the outskirts of my school's society did hurt a little, but the small amount of friends I had helped me through it. I wonder what ever happened to them?

Eventually, as everything does, we all grew up and moved on. In middle school I was brought back into the folds of society, with some teasing every now and then. Lucky for me, people began to realize that being smart was an advantage, and guess who just happened to be the smartest person in the grade (that, and our teacher once told us that be nice to everyone as they might be your boss one day). Still, even though being the smart-kid wasn't a stigma anymore, being on the edge of society had actually grown on me. I wasn't bothered as much, I could read my books in peace, and I could hang out with other outcasts who loved what I loved without fear of being teased. It was through these outcasts that I found my love of Digimon. Yep, I said it; I love Digimon. Loving Digimon alone is enough to give me the label of a nerd. Still, by this point I didn't really care, and everyone else had grown up enough to not care either.

My situation in high school wasn't that much different. Sure, I was more easily accepted by my peers, but having such little experience in social interacting has left me oblivious to people trying to talk to or hang out with me. That, and I'm naturally oblivious to begin with (how else could I crash a go-cart without even being in the driver seat). Still, I was one of the best in the class, teachers loved me, my peers had warmed up to me, and I had several friends. Life was good, and I thought there was nothing that could stop the flow.

That was my situation till just recently. As I mentioned earlier I "used to be" everything I just said. You're about to find out why I said that.

It was a Saturday afternoon when it happened. I was surfing the web, and had been cleaning out my inbox of spam when I found one thing that interested me. It was an email with the sender as _Digimon Inc._ Interested, as I was always looking for more Digimon stuff, I opened the email. What was in it shocked me.

"Do these idiots really think someone would pay $10.00 for shipping and handling for a videogame? It's amazing they haven't gone bankrupt yet. No one would pay that much money

I closed out the email, and was about to just aimlessly search when the doorbell rung. I looked out the window, only to find that it was the mailman. I quickly pulled off my pajamas (hey, it was a Saturday) and quickly pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a sweatshirt before heading down the stairs to answer the door. The mailman handed me a package, I signed for it, and off the two of us went on our separate ways. Heading up to my room, I opened up the package with a pair of scissors and began to dig through the hundreds of Styrofoam peanuts. At the bottom of the box I found what I had been looking for; a black-colored Digivice based on the one from the third season of the show (Tamers, whatever you want to call it)

"I can't believe it came so quickly. I only ordered it two days ago and its here. I didn't even pay for that shipping. I wonder if these buttons really work?"

I started playing around with the buttons, flipping through menus, and just enjoying myself when all of a sudden a beep pierced the air, and a shock went through my arms. I dropped the device, and silently swore to myself.

"Dang it, it must be defective. The stupid thing shocked me."

As I continued lamenting over my defective product, I suddenly felt a warm sensation come over me. Thinking that it was just some by-product of the shock (which I would later find out was half-right) I just ignored it. Heading back to my computer, I sat down to head to the company website to register a complaint and get a new one ordered. As my fingers flew across the board, I began to feel itchy all over. I was getting worried, as electric shocks shouldn't make you feel warm and itchy. I continued to ignore it, but finally decided to see what the problem was when it wouldn't stop. I opened up the neck of my sweatshirt to see if I had gotten a rash or something, but what I saw made up literally jump out of my chair and throw my shirt off.

"What the hell is going on here! Why am I growing white fur on my chest!?"

Panicking, I ran into the bathroom to get a better look at what was happening. The white fur was growing steadily over my chest and stomach, while grey fur was growing everywhere else. I was so dumbstruck by what was happening that I was almost completely covered by fur by the time that I realized that the Digivice must have done this.

I ran out of the bathroom, but I hadn't gotten very far when I stumbled over myself. Cursing silently again, I looked back at my feet, and was made even more depressed and scared. Apparently, I had been so concerned by the fur that I had failed to notice that my toenails had been growing longer and thicker, and had just broken through my slippers. They were a dark black in color, and by the way they looked were giant halves of a claw. Even though I wish it wasn't true, they weren't done yet. I had five toes, but only the middle one stayed put. The rest of them of began to fuse together into two giant claws, leaving me with three claws. Sitting back up, noticing that my spine had begun to feel uncomfortable, I removed my slippers. Just as I thought, they were covered in grey fur and had begun to form themselves into giant paws. They even had the rough patch of skin underneath them.

Even as I inspected my feet, my hands were doing the exact same thing. The nails were growing out and fusing into three giant claws oddly curved as if to be used for digging and pads were appearing on the underside. Seeing as going to my room was no use, I picked myself up and headed into the bathroom to see the rest of my changes. Just as I stepped through the doorway, my spine began to extend myself and press through my pants. I heard a rip as what I soon found out was my tail. It remained skin, until it too fell under the wave of gray fur. The end of my new appendage was flat and had split into three points at the end. If that wasn't enough, the laws of matter were broken as black bandages wrapped around the end of my tail.

With this new change finished with, I headed into the bathroom to watch the last of my humanity disappear. Watching the mirror, I moaned as my mouth and nose began to extend out and fuse into a muzzle that was once again covered in the gray fur with the tip where my nose used to be black and wet. My mouth ached as my canine teeth began to extend out into a small pair of fangs. My eyes grew a little larger, and along with my new look my senses began to improve.

"Oh, my god, this bathroom stinks. Who is supposed to clean this?"

I laughed as I remembered that it was my job to do so, and in this one moment I forget that I was in the middle of changing. This moment of innocence was broken as I looked in the mirror to see that my ears had moved up to the top of my head. They were also growing out longer and longer, though instead of drooping, they were heading out straight. The ends of the new pair of ears split again, and just like the rest of my body, they were soon covered in grey fur.

"I think it's all over with. God, I look like some kind of monster." I said, looking over in despair at my new body. The fur, the claws, the heightened senses, the muzzle, the tail! Speaking of the senses, I left the bathroom, as I felt sick from the stench. I headed towards my room, hoping that even with these claws I could get some answers from the company. As I walked, I noticed that the ceiling was getting higher, and the floor getting closer.

"Dang it, if this body wasn't enough now I'm shrinking. Can this day get any worse?"

That question was soon answered when I reached my computer. I could barely see the screen over the desk and computer, but the message that was on the screen was clear.

_Dear Richard,_

_First off, the shipping prices for my game is not unreasonable for interdimensional shipping._

_Anyway, I would like to explain to you what just happened. The Digital World is in grave danger, and you are needed to save it. I'm running out of time to speak, and so I must explain more once you are here. However, just know that the form of the Digimon Gazimon is safer for you than if you were to come here as a human._

Azulongmon 

"I can't believe this. I get turned into a Digimon, and Azulongmon acts nonchalant about it. Wait, Azulongmon?! If he sent this message, then that means that…"

I didn't get the chance to finish that sentence, as a bright light arrived from my computer and dragged me with it. I attempted to resist and drag myself from it (hey, the claws were worth something), but events soon proved otherwise. In my attempt to resist, I knocked my head on the desk and was soon knocked out. Nothing since has been the same.


	2. Waking Up in the Digital World

**Author's Note:** I do not own Digimon or any of it's related copyright. I wish I did though. Feel free to review and comment.

**Veemon's Point of View:**

"Could today get even more boring? There's nothing to do." Veemon was completely and totally bored. So far nothing exciting had happened today. Instead, it had been just a completely normal day. He had woken up, caught some fish in the river for breakfast, and had been spending the rest of the day just relaxing. While most people would enjoy such a thing, Veemon didn't. He preferred life to be exciting and fun, with adventure and excitement.

"Oh, why am I kidding myself. I'm just a simple Veemon on File Island. Nothing exciting ever happens here, and even if something did happen I'm sure it would be squashed quickly by Duskmon and his goons."

Duskmon, ruler of File Island. Ever since he had been put in charge of the island, everyone had lived in fear of him and his troops. Well, most of them anyways. There were a few Digimon left fighting him, but they were so outnumbered and weak that any day they would be wiped out.

"And once that happens things will become even more dull around here. I miss the old days before Duskmon. At least then I could have some fun without worrying about getting blown to Digi-bits."

As Veemon sat thinking over the good old days, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a bright light in the sky. His eyes glossed over in joy, thinking that the light was a shooting star. Obviously, he wished that the world would be more exciting. As the light headed straight for him, he was soon to find out just how exciting it would become. After he got out of the way anyways.

**Richard's Point of View:**

I was peacefully asleep when all of a sudden I felt someone poking me. I thought it was my mom, so I started pushing the hand away as I sat myself up.

"Alright, alright I'm up mom. No need to keep poking me." I said sleepily.

"Mom? What's a mom?"

I stopped in my tracks. That voice was defiantly not my mom's. It sounded more like a kid's, more specifically a young boy's voice. Considering I didn't have a brother, this of course freaked me out. By this point my eye's were opened and were beginning to clear up in vision. I soon wished I had kept them closed. Staring point-blank in front of me was a small, blue, dinosaur (or was it a dragon?) looking monster. It was about the same size as me, and its eyes showed curiosity and excitement. For most it would have seemed harmful. But me, I scooted myself backwards with a small scream in an attempt to get away from the creature. The creature screamed in surprise in response, and quickly jumped to its feet.

Afterwards, it didn't come any closer to me, though with my behavior even I would have stayed back. Looking in fear at my claws and fur, I suddenly remembered everything that happened to me. The Digivice, the transformation, the getting knocked out (the pain which soon returned to me, but I ignored it). My head collapsed into him hands, and after shifting myself around to keep myself from poking my head, I broke down and sobbed.

"What in the world is happening to me? Why am I here, why am I like this?" I said out loud to no one in particular, knowing that there wasn't anyone who could answer me.

**Veemon's Point of View**

When the light of what he thought was a star landed and transformed into a Gazimon, Veemon became ecstatic. His wish had come true. Today had become exciting, as Digimon usually didn't fall from the sky. Since he was asleep, Veemon had decided to wake it up by poking it. It took just a minute before the Gazimon got up and spoke.

"Alright, alright, I'm up mom. No need to keep poking me." The Gazimon said tiredly.

Veemon didn't know what a mom was, as Digimon weren't born like humans are. So, he asked curiously what a mom was, but as the Gazimon screamed and scurried away Veemon moved back. Thinking something bad had happened to the Digimon, Veemon had decided to give him some time to himself. However, once Gazimon started breaking down sobbing he couldn't stand by and watch. Walking over to him and sitting next to him, patting him on the back to comfort him, Veemon started to try to calm him down.

"There, there, Gazimon, it's alright. I guess you must have just Digivolved and scared. But don't worry, I'll help you get used to it. I'm Veemon, by the way."

**Richard's Point of View**

I looked up at Veemon, seeing that he wasn't going to do anything to me. Still, to me he seemed so ignorant I wanted him to go away. I turned my head away from him, and spoke so low he could barely hear me.

"Digivolving isn't the problem. I'm not even supposed to be a Digimon. I'm a human, a human from the Real World. I got a package, and the next thing I knew I was this Gazimon and hurled here."

I was afraid Veemon would think me insane, and even though I knew him for only a few minutes I felt comforted by his presence. Then again, in the Digital World anyone not trying to kill you is a comfortable presence.

**Veemon's Point of View**

Veemon laughed at the Gazimon's response. It had been years since a human had come to the Digital World, and he was sure that they wouldn't come as a Digimon. Still, Gazimon sounded very serious, and his depressed aura seemed to tell otherwise. Veemon quickly stopped and apologized, which seemed to lift up the Gazimon's spirit.

"All right then. If what you say is true, then you need my help to get you being a true Digimon. Come on, let's see what kind of attacks you can do."

Veemon dragged Richard by the arm, excited by the idea that he had just befriended a human, and one who had become a Digimon for that matter. This day was getting better and better for him.

By the time they had stopped, Veemon had dragged Richard into an empty clearing to practice his moves. But first, Veemon decided to show off his own moves first to give Gazimon an idea of what to do.

"Alright, I'm going to show you off my move. It's not that big of a deal, it's just a headbutt. But I'm pretty thick headed, so it can do a pretty nice amount of damage. Ready. One, two, three, Vee Headbutt."

**Richard's Point of View.**

By this point I thought Veemon was crazy. Sure, he did believe my story, and I was grateful for that, but then he grabs me by the arm and drags me to practice attacks. My mind was running a mile a minute in an attempt to remember what moves Gazimon knew. Sadly, the events of the last few hours, minutes, or whatever amount of time had passed had messed up my mind. I was going blank with thoughts.

Even worse, I was freaking out by the idea of actually having to fight. Never having been in a fight before, there was no way I could defend others or myself. I was useless, and next time I could talk to Azulongmon (after some choice words, or course) I was going to tell him that and demand to go home. At the same time, though, I had nothing else to do, so I decided to watch Veemon practice his moves. I relaxed against a tree while watching Veemon headbutt into a tree.

I soon regretted not stopping him. As soon as Veemon hit that tree, a buzzing noise erupted from it. Out of the tree came a large, wasp looking Digimon. By now I had finally realized that the Digivice was on my arm, and I started pushing buttons like crazy to figure out if it could tell me any information on the Digimon. All I could get was the name Flymon and that it was an insect type.

"Great, thanks for the info. Now tell us how to beat it dang it."

**Veemon's Point of View**

Veemon didn't expect the Flymon to come out of the tree. He ducked as it came out of the tree, and looked over to Gazimon to see if he would do anything. Instead, all Veemon saw was that Gazimon was playing around with some stupid machine.

"Hey, stop playing with that toy and attack it already." Veemon said angrily.

"I don't know how to attack, remember. I'm not a Digimon." Richard replied back in a fearful tone.

Veemon felt stupid for forgetting that, and as the Flymon honed in on him, Veemon performed another Vee Headbutt to knock him out of the way. Knowing he didn't have much time till it came back, Veemon took the time to try to raise up Gazimon's spirit.

"Well, you're a Digimon now, and its time you started acting like one. Come on, Flymon's a Champion, I can't fight it alone. We're going to need to beat it, otherwise we're both dead. You can do it, all Digimon can do it."

Veemon was blind-sided by a body slam from the Flymon, and was soon knocked to the ground. The Flymon rose into the air, ready to deliver the final blow. Veemon knew his only hope was Gazimon. Sighing, he thought about his life, and deciding it was good, prepared to face the music.

**Richard's Point of View**

As the Flymon headed towards us with intent to kill, I froze to the spot where I was standing. I should have known something like this would happen, but I still wasn't prepared. Veemon faced off against the Flymon, and was able to get it to leave for awhile. He knew I was afraid and felt useless, so he tried to give me a pep talk. It didn't work, and I just stood there as Flymon sent him flying. I closed my eyes as Flymon prepared to finish him off, but then it hit me. I was standing here a coward while some innocent Digimon who only wanted to be my friend was about to get killed.

If I let that happen I would regret it for the rest of my life, and so I pushed back the thoughts of being afraid and got down on all fours (which, by the way, felt really weird) and ran as fast as I could. When I neared the Flymon, I jumped on top of him and started clawing him. The distraction worked, and Veemon got out of the way of Flymon's stinger. Still being green to battle, the Flymon easily shook me off. But the time I gave Veemon gave him the opportunity to get in one last headbutt, and soon the Flymon was making a run for it. The two of us quickly decided to not chase it.

"I'm sorry I acted like such a coward back there, almost letting you die and all." I quickly said, in a sorrowful and guilty tone. Veemon was understandingly more tired than I was, and it took him a minute to catch his breath.

"That's alright, I guess I shouldn't have expected you to fight so early in your new Digimon life."

**Veemon's Point of View.**

When Gazimon finally attacked the Flymon, Veemon was relived. Apparently Gazimon had finally gotten the guts to fight back, and just in the nick of time. Still, it was cutting it a bit close, but he thought it best to not mention. Right now it was time to celebrate Gazimon finally becoming a true-blue Digimon.

"Well, now that you seem to have gotten the hang of fighting, want to get something to eat?"

Gazimon's stomach seemed to rumble in agreement, and the two of them headed off to scavenge for food, with the danger of angry Digimon far behind them.


	3. First Night

**Author's Note:** Finally remembered to put that I do not own Digimon or any of its legal and copyrights. I wish I did though.

* * *

**Impmon's Point of View**

Dust rose into the air as the small, purple imp named Impmon tripped over a root and was sent flying into the ground. He quickly scrambled to get his footing and then continued running, occasionally swiping branches out of his way. In the darkness behind him one could hear the footsteps of a large, and obviously angry Digimon chasing him.

The chase continued for several more minutes before Impmon reached the edge of the island. With no where else to run, he jumped off the edge into the sea. Lucky for him, this part of the island was clear, and so he was able to avoid being smashed to pieces on rocks. He held his breath as the footsteps approached the cliff, but sighed in relief as they left.

"Whew, I almost didn't make it out of that one alive." The Digimon said in an accent that one would normally associate with stereotypical gangsters. Looking around for a piece of shore to swim to, he noticed a small campfire in the woods just on the edge of the beach.

_Perfect. Somewhere warm, safe, with some food. Besides, maybe whoever's there can help me out._

**Richard's Point of View**

I was absolutely tired. Today had been a day like no other. In the morning, turned into a Digimon and sent into a completely new world. That afternoon I meet up with a Veemon and was forced to fight a Flymon. As for the rest of the day…

"I never knew fur could retain water so well. It's been what, five hours since I fell into that lake?"

After beating the Flymon, Veemon and I had went off to a nearby lake to get us some food. He let my try fishing with my new claws while he went out to get berries, though I really think it was because he didn't want me picking something poisonous and eating it with no idea. I wasn't good at fishing as a human, and as a Digimon it wasn't any better. In fact, it was probably worse. At least as a human I never fell in and got soaked to the bone. Veemon just stood there laughing as I shook myself to dry, and a few hours later (the fish had left for obvious reasons) caught several fish for dinner.

Right now the two of us were just sitting around the campfire, telling stories and eating fish. One accomplishment during this time was I finally convinced him to stop calling me Gazimon and start calling me Richard. And on his side of the conversation, he told me what had been happening in the Digital World.

**Veemon's Point of View**

Richard had asked Veemon about the Digital World and what this evil that Azulongmon had told him about. Veemon though for a minute before he started his story.

"Alright then, where to begin. Well, first off, many years ago before I was even a DigiEgg a group of children had come and saved the Digital World from a variety of evils and bad guys. I'll admit that I don't know to much about all of that, except that the villains were a group of Digimon called the Dark Masters. A few years later they saved the world again from a MaloMyotismon, and not much has happened till a few years ago. A group of very powerful and very bad Digimon called the Demon Lords appeared out of nowhere and just beat the pulp out of the Digimon Sovereigns, and one of them is this Azulongmon that sent the message to you. Here on File Island, Duskmon is the guy in charge. Ever since he came things have been calm and quiet because everyone is to afraid to do anything. However…"

Veemon got a sparkle in his eye as he said his next statement.

"You've been sent here to help us, and with my help this Digital World will be saved. Think about it, you and me, a Digimon dream team. The Demon Lords won't stand a chance."

**Richard's Point of View**

I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled.

"Yeah, they won't stand a chance." I said with a nervous laugh.

_I really hope that this guy isn't serious. The day I save the world, or the Digital World, or anyone for that matter, is the day that my school gets out of school for snow._

I quickly straightened up though when I heard some rustling in the bushes. I quickly ran over to Veemon's side of the fire and hid behind him. He just gave me a "You're an Idiot" stare as he turned his attention to the woods. My eyes followed his, and I breathed a sigh of relief when out of the woods came a small, purple, humanoid looking thing.

_Whew, I thought some giant monster was coming to get us._

My fears gone, I stood up and moved out from behind Veemon.

"Hi there. Sorry for acting so scared. We kind of had a rough day. I thought you were some giant monster."

**Impmon's Point of View**

Impmon had gotten out of the water and was heading to the campsite when Veemon had begun his story. When it finished, Impmon was just a few feet away, but apparently his movement had scared the Gazimon half to death, as he ran behind the Veemon when he entered the campsite. Impmon stared at them confused, till the Gazimon's message registered in his head.

"What do mean by that? I may be small but I'm as tough as any Digimon in these parts. Who are you two anyway?"

The Veemon was the first to answer, in an annoyingly peppy way. "I'm Veemon, and this is.."

"Gazimon." The Gazimon said, obviously still nervous about Impmon's arrival.

_A couple of chumps is what these two are. I can't believe I was going to ask them to help me take care of some business._

"Well, nice to meet ya two. I'm Impmon. Alright if I have some of this fish."

Without waiting for an answer, Impmon grabbed some of the food and started to chow down.

**Richard's Point of View**

_What's with this guy? He scares me half to death, asks who we are, and then just takes our food._

I was about to protest when all of a sudden I heard giant footsteps heading this way. I noticed that the Impmon had a scared look on his face, and it was then that I realized that whatever this thing was, it apparently was chasing this Impmon. I poked Veemon in the side.

"I think we should get out of here. Whoever this Impmon is, apparently he's got company following him."

Veemon just shook his head no.

"Relax Richard, you're just worrying to much. A lot of Digimon come out of night. It's probably unrelated to Impmon here."

I just simply said fine, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen because of this guy. The three of us talked for a little bit longer, and I started to relax a little. Impmon was funny, and seemed to have a lot of good stories. Eventually it got to late for us to be able to stay up any longer, and soon all of us were sound asleep. Sadly, it didn't last that long.

**Impmon's Point of View**

Impmon was starting to think that these two weren't too bad. Sure they were a bit, well, odd. The Veemon was a bundle of energy, and the Gazimon was scared of his own shadow. Still, after the rough introductions they had treated him nice, even inviting him to come with them on their little adventure. Still, as they sleep, Impmon was terrified with nightmares of being squished, smashed, and burnt by…

His thoughts were interrupted by a massive roar and the splinters of broken tree's flying through the air. A large, blue, dinosaur Digimon had broken into their campsite, and he was defiantly not happy. Its large, yellow eyes scanned the campsite, finally stopping on Impmon.

"He..he..hey there DarkGreymon. Long time no see. Look, I'll get you the DigiDollars by morning. I was going to get these two to help me" Impmon said with fear obvious to anyone with half a brain.

"No, your time is up. You have failed to pay back Lord Duskmon for the money you owe, and now it is time to pay." The DarkGreymon growled as he sucked in a giant breath. Soon afterwards a giant ball of blue fire was sent hurtling at Impmon, who was saved at the last minute by Veemon. Impmon didn't even get the chance to say thanks before Veemon was off again.

**Veemon's Point of View**

_What kind of trouble is this guy in that Duskmon would want him killed personally? Either way, if Duskmon is behind it, then it can't be good._

Veemon knew that this was going to be tough. Three Rookies vs. a very big and very strong Champion was not a favorable match up. Even worse, Richard still wasn't confident about battle, and even though he was on all fours ready to fight, he was shaking like there was no tomorrow. It was then that Veemon noticed the cliff a little ways off. He smiled as he formulated a plan.

"Hey, overgrown lizard. Why don't you pick on someone your own type, or are you just nothing but a Sukamon."

Veemon performed a Vee Headbutt on DarkGreymon's knee, and while it didn't hurt, it sure did bring Veemon a lot of attention. DarkGreymon roared again, and tried to swipe at Veemon. Veemon was sent flying towards Impmon, but Veemon quickly picked himself up.

"Impmon, make a run for that cliff over there. I think you should know what to do."

Impmon did as he was told, and soon DarkGreymon was chasing him and Veemon.

**Richard's Point of View**

When DarkGreymon started to attack, I was the first to be scared beyond belief. I prepped myself to attack, but his massive size alone made me freeze in my tracks. The giant ball of fire didn't help the matter. When Veemon started taunting him, I thought Veemon was the biggest idiot in the whole Digital World. That is, till Veemon and Impmon made a run for the cliff. That was when I figured out what they were up to. Of course, I was kind of left behind in the chase, and I had to make a run for it to catch up to DarkGreymon (hey, did you think I was going to be in front of him?).

When Veemon and Impmon ran out of places to run, they stood to face DarkGreymon. I, of course, had just come out of the woods and was panting as fast as possible. DarkGreymon didn't seem to know, or care, that I was there. All he did was prep up for another Nova Blast. I sucked up a huge breath of air in fear of what was going to happen, and held it. My face was turned when it happened, but I sure could feel the heat when the blast was sent. When I turned, Veemon and Impmon weren't on the cliff.

"No, Veemon, Impmon, why." I almost broke down to cry as DarkGreymon walked over to the cliff to investigate his kill. Apparently the rock couldn't hold his weight, as it started to crack, much to his annoyance

_That must have been Veemon's plan. He was luring DarkGreymon to the cliff so it would break and send him into the ocean. But, he sees that it's cracking. It didn't work. Veemon and Impmon..no, I 'm going to finish this._

I ran over to DarkGreymon, who just looked down and laugh. I suddenly remembered I had a chest full of air, and it was starting to hurt to hold it. As DarkGreymon bent his head down to look at me (got to admit that from his view I'm pathetic), I released it. Instead of air, though, a noxious smelling cloud of gas came out and hit DarkGreymon straight in the face. It temporarily blinded him, and as the pain soaked through his eyes he tripped and fell into the ocean, the cliff collapsing on him.

"I.I..I did it? I beat DarkGreymon. But Veemon and Impmon."

**Veemon's and Impmon's Point of View**

After Veemon and Impmon fell off of the cliff to avoid the Nova Blast, the two of them had swam to shore. They made their way back to the cliff, but instead of attacking DarkGreymon like they planned, the two watched as Richard took him on himself.

_Gutsy little fellow, but he's going to get killed out there. I have to do…_

As the thought finished out, Veemon saw that Gazimon had released some noxious cloud of gas into DarkGreymon's eye, sending him off the cliff. In the excitement that followed this scene (wasn't every day that your best friend used their special technique for the first time), Veemon was almost crushed by the hug he received from Gazimon. Impmon wasn't able to escape, and he was soon in Richard's embrace.

**Richard's Point of View**

I was filled to the brim with joy when I saw Veemon and Impmon safe and sound. I crushed them with a hug, and pretty much explained everything I had thought about just a minute earlier. In between their limited breaths of air, they tried to comfort me and tell me that everything was fine. I released them both, and calmed myself down.

"I'm sorry, I had thought you had died. I didn't expect to see you two ever again. Next time, though, please tell me when you pull a stunt like that."

"Hey, if we did, you wouldn't have learned how to use Paralyze Breath, and DarkGreymon would have been eating us for a midnight snack." Veemon said.

"Touche."

With the reunion done with, the three of us headed back to our campsite for a well-deserved sleep. Before I did so, I asked Impmon what was this debt he owed to Duskmon?

"Well, a while back I, when I lived on Server, I was starving to death. Duskmon was on his way to his appointed job as ruler of File Island, and he lent me some money to buy some soup from this Digitamamon's restaurant."

Veemon and me looked at him with an angry glare.

"Well, it was really expensive soup." Impmon said very quietly. Veemon and I proceeded to beat him in the head for almost killing us over some soup, and then all three of us went to sleep, though it was a bit uncomfortable for Impmon.


	4. Digivolve to: Sangloupmon

Author's Note: Digimon does not belong to me, nor will it ever. I wish it did though, it would be awesome. Feel free to comment on the story. All reviews and comments appreciated.

**Richard's Point of View**

After the exciting events of the last day, I was glad to finally get a chance to get a good night's sleep. Between turning into a Digimon, finding out I'm supposed to help save a world, and almost getting killed, I was tired for sure. It was a bit weird to sleep on the ground with leaves as a bed, being used to a mattress and all of that. However, my new body thought nothing of it, and I spent the entire night in a peaceful sleep curled up near the fire.

By the time morning came, I was well rested and ready to explore the island further. Apparently, though, my habit of waking up early had followed me from the Real World. Veemon and Impmon were still sleeping when I woke up. I sat for awhile, but when it was clear they wouldn't be waking up, I decided to go and try to get us something for breakfast. Sure, there was some fish leftover from last night, but it was cold (besides, who knows what got on them while we slept). Besides, after my failure last time to do so, I wanted to redeem myself by catching some fish. With that plan in my head, I headed away from the campsite towards the lake where Veemon and me had fished the day before.

I started walking on both of my legs, but as I got further away I decided to try out running on all four legs. Placing my front paws on the ground, playing with the dirt a little bit with my claws, I started running. It was exhilarating, till I ended up face first in the dirt after tripping on a root. Luckily, I was already at the lake so there was no need to run any further. That is, till what I saw was happening on the other side.

**Salamon's Point of View**

_Why is this thing attacking me? I didn't do anything to it_

The small, puppy looking Digimon called Salamon was hiding behind trees as bursts of freezing energy flew towards it. In the lake was a giant, blue-green sea serpent, Seadramon to be more exact. And in that moment of time, it was attacking the defenseless Salamon. As the blasts froze and destroyed the trees, Salamon kept running to dodge them. To her, it looked like the end. She hid cowering behind one last tree, waiting for it all to end. For some reason, though, it didn't. Peeking her head from behind the tree, she saw a Gazimon fighting the Seadramon. She had no clue why it was doing so, but she sure wasn't going to intervene.

**Richard's Point of View**

_What did I get myself into now? There is now way I can beat this thing. I mean, it's not like I can drown it like I did that other Digimon._

From the other side of the lake I saw a small, defenseless looking Digimon being attacked. I guess I must have a soft spot for such things, because the next thing I know I'm fighting this giant serpent (which my Digivice had identified as Seadramon). At first things seemed to be going good. I was dodging blasts left and right, but as the fight dragged on more and more of the ground was becoming ice. It was getting hard to maneuver, and even worse the few times I sent out a blast of Paralyze Breath it didn't do anything except delay him for a moment. I was getting tired, and Seadramon was getting angrier. And even worse, Veemon and Impmon weren't anywhere to bee seen. Just when things seemed to be at there worst, it got worst. I finally slipped up, and was hit by one of Seadramon's blasts. I ended up flying into a tree, and I just slumped down in defeat.

_I can't do it. I just can't beat this guy without Veemon or Impmon's help. This is the end, I know it. Why did Azulongmon think I could save the Digital World when I can't even save this little puppy._

I moved my head a little bit to look over at the Digimon I had attempted to save. It was cowering in fear as Seadramon prepared one last blast. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see such a horrible sight. But as I sat there, ready to hear Salamon's final screams, I started thinking.

_What I'm doing just sitting here. I go the last fifteen years facing hell from bullies just to sit and listen as a defenseless Digimon get blasted to bits. It's just stupid, and I am not stupid. I'm going to save that Digimon, even if it kills me. Hopefully it doesn't kill me._

I stood up, and as I did so I felt a surge of power. I blew it off as the flight-or-fight response that my Biology teacher droned on and on about, and got on all fours again. I ran towards Seadramon, and as I jumped into the air a bright light surrounded me. As my form began to painlessly shift, my knowledge of Digimon decided to finally kick in (what took it so long anyway?).

_I can't believe it, I'm actually Digivolving .Hmm, funny, I actually expected that screen with the words and Japanese symbols flying everywhere to appear. Eh, guess that's not important._

As the light began to fade, it was obvious that I was no longer a Gazimon. Instead of the grey dog-rabbit beast of my previous form, I was now a wolf looking Digimon. Around the side of my head and shoulders were these purple flaps that reminded me of bat wings. My chest fur was white, and there was a lot of it. The fur over the rest of my body was a bluish color with red patterns breaking the monotony. My ears were now pointer like a wolf instead of the flat ones like a rabbit. My canine teeth had by this point become long enough to stick out of my mouth, giving it quiet the fearful look. The most interesting change was around my legs. Surrounding my ankles were some metallic bracers surrounding them. My front legs had these blades extending from them, and with my claws would provide an excellent offense.

This sudden transformation sure seemed to distract Seadramon, as he shifted his attention to me. The body slam I had started as Gazimon worked much better as whatever I was, and I was able to push Seadramon aside. Landing on the ground on all fours, I quickly watched as my Digivice began working. After a few seconds of data scrolling, it finally gave up the information I was looking for.

"So, I'm a Sangloupmon. Not bad looking, if I do say so myself. Let's see. Attacks, attacks, attacks, what are my...ah, there they are."

Armed with my new knowledge, and some resentment it wasn't so helpful when I first got here, I turned to face the now enraged Seadramon. I ran towards it, and what could be considered a very cliché Hollywood moment, it fired at me. At the last second, I jumped into the air while unleashing a large wave of blades towards him while announcing the attack as "Stickler Blade." It didn't take long for it to go down, and fearing for its survival, it headed back down to the depths were it came. I landed back on the ground, and turned around only to find the Digimon I was protecting gone.

**Salamon's Point of View**

_Oh, why does everything bad happen to me. All I wanted was a drink, and end up in the middle of a fight between that Seadramon and Sangloupmon._

During the entire fight between Seadramon and Richard, Salamon had stayed behind her little tree, fearing for her life. She didn't know that he was trying to protect her, and instead was as scared of him as she was of Seadramon. During the commotion of his Digivolution and the ensuing battle, she had slipped away back into the forest. She made her way as far from the battle as possible, not wishing to get hurt.

**Richard's Point of View**

As I stood there, figuring that the Digimon had walked off during the fight, I headed over to the water to take a look at myself. I had to admit I was a bit of a frightful thing to look upon, but at the same time I had to admire the fact I actually brought up the courage to Digivolve.

"Maybe I am cut out for saving this world."

"Don't get ahead of yourself kid, it ain't over yet." I heard a very familiar Chicago accent voice. I turned around, and there stood Impmon and Veemon. I would have hugged them, but I really couldn't do that at the moment. Veemon had a grin on him that showed he was as excited as I was, while Impmon looked like he didn't really care.

"So, how long have the two of you been up?"

**Impmon's Point of View**

_I can't believe this kid actually Digivolved. Just last night he was afraid of his own shadow._

Impmon thought with a disbelief of what had happened. The two of them had woken up after hearing the commotion, and seeing that Richard was gone had headed into the woods. The two of them were worried about his safety, as past experience had showed he wasn't the greatest of fighters. They had appeared just as he glowed for Digivolving and at that point Impmon had gained a little respect for the kid. Still, as he just made clear, it wasn't time for him to get a big head about it. He had only beat a Seadramon, and there was lots worse out there. With this in mind, Impmon decided to not get too excited about it. Veemon however…

**Veemon's Point of View**

"We've been up for just a little whiles. I can't believe you've actually Digivolved. How did it feel like, what Digimon are you, what kind of attacks do you have?"

Veemon spoke in a rush of excitement. Just yesterday he had met this guy, who had no clue how to even fight, and within twenty-four hours had Digivolved to Champion and had taken down a Seadramon. Now knowing why Impmon wasn't ecstatic, he continued on asking question after question. Richard eventually told him to slow down, and the three friend's continued to chat on about the Digivolving.

**On Top of Infinity Mountain**

In the dark halls that were reminiscent of a Gothic Cathedral from the Middle Ages, a Bakemon was bowing on the ground to a throne. The figure on the throne was shrouded by shadows, but there was no doubt who it was.

"Your Lord Duskmon, reports have arrived that the minion sent to collect the payment from the Impmon was defeated by the Impmon, a Veemon, and Gazimon. Upon further observation, one of these Digimon Digivolved while attempting to protect a Salamon from a Seadramon."

The Bakemon had a deep fear in his voice as Duskmon pondered. It was strange that one of his minions was defeated, and even stranger defeated by such a group. They could be a little trouble to him, and so he formulated a plan. Pressing an ancient rune on the throne, a purple glow appeared. Deep underneath the mountain, a rumbling could be heard as a cave appeared in the side. Inside the cave were glows of red eyes, hungry for a battle.

"I believe my minions should be able to take care of these pests. And to show that rebellion will not be tolerated, I will have Primary Village destroyed."


	5. Defend Primary Village

Author's Note: Digimon and all of it's related content do not belong to me, no matter how much I wish they did

* * *

**Richard's POV**

After the exciting events of the battle between Seadramon and me, as well as me Digivolving, I was looking forward to getting some rest and relaxation. Sadly, Veemon was on a quest to prevent that, as he was constantly asking me about how it felt to Digivolve. It was around what seemed the twentieth time he asked that I finally snapped at him.

"Look, I told you already that I can't describe it. One moment I feel drained and empty of energy, and then all of a sudden I had this huge burst of energy. The next thing I know, I'm Sangloupmon. That's all I can say about it."

Veemon looked like he was about to say something, but as soon as his mouth began to open Impmon grabbed it and closed it shut. He didn't even look at Veemon as he spoke, and instead he looked at the ground with an obviously annoyed look on his face.

"Veemon, give it a rest. All Richard here did was Digivolve, and you act like he was the most powerful Digimon in the whole Digital World. Trust me, right now it's probably best you shut it."

While I didn't agree with his methods, I did agree with what Impmon said. Impmon made Veemon promise to stop nagging me about Digivolving, and once Veemon nodded yes, Impmon let go. Veemon looked like he was going to complain about having his mouth shut, but Impmon's arm almost ready to pounce made him think otherwise. By the time this was all over with we had made it back to the campsite. It was around noon, and having no breakfast meant we were starving.

"Good thing we got some fish back at the lake to eat, huh you two."

Impmon just blew me off, and Veemon was still under the fear of Impmon's hand, so the three of us just ate our lunch in silence.

**Salamon's POV**

Salamon was relieved to return home to Primary Village. After Seadramon's attack, and that scary Sangloupmon, she just wanted to relax. Walking on over to one of the building's made out of building blocks, she nodded a good day to Elecmon, the guardian of Primary Village.

_It's so kind of him to let me stay here like this. Everyone knows Primary Village is for Baby Digimon only, but apparently Elecmon can't resist helping those in need._

Salamon's home wasn't the fanciest place to live. There was a beanbag cushion that she slept/sat on and a pile of what looked like cabbage, except that they were a variety of different colors. Walking over to it and picking out a blue colored one, she began to chow down on it.

"Mmmm, swordfish flavored, my favorite." She said in-between bites. The cabbage was finished within just a few minutes, and soon she nodded off to sleep in her beanbag chair. As she did, though, things were going for a turn for the worse outside.

**Veemon's POV**

_All I wanted to know was what did it feel like to Digivolve. I've always dreamed of being able to do that. Is it so wrong to be curious?_

Even after their stomachs were full of fish, the three Digimon still weren't talking to each other. Impmon was on a tree branch, just looking up into the sky while Richard was busy trying to walk on all four legs. As for Veemon, he was sitting on a tree stump bored, or at least he was till he noticed a faint cloud of smoke in the distance. He quickly sat up, remembering that where there was smoke there was fire.

"Hey guys, I think that…" Veemon was interrupted by the annoyed tone of Impmon.

"Look Veemon, I already told you to be quiet. You've become such a pest since Richard Digivolved."

"But, it's not about that, it's…You know what, if that's how you feel fine. I guess I'll leave."

Impmon just shrugged, and it was evident he didn't care whether Veemon left or not. Richard's ear went up when he heard that, but before he could do anything about it Veemon had already left. He was currently running towards the smoke, hoping to figure out the cause of the fire.

**Richard's POV**

"Veemon, wait up. Impmon, we can't let him got out on his own like that. What if he got hurt?" I said in a worried tone of voice.

I was scared of losing Veemon, something I've had since the run in with that blue-colored Greymon. And with him running off like that, the fear began to creep back into me. However, Impmon didn't seem to share the same opinion.

"Don't get so freaked out kid. I'm sure the little guy will be fine. He's a hothead, but he is tough. I'm sure that he can take care of himself. He'll be back before you know it."

I felt a little bit better, but still something didn't feel right about all of this. But for now, all I could do was sit back and wait till he got back.

**Veemon's POV**

_That Impmon is an ungrateful jerk. We saved his sorry self from that Black Greymon, and how does he treat me? Like a worthless piece of garbage, that's what. _

Veemon was still angry about how Impmon acted towards him, but what hurt him even worse was Richard didn't raise a word against him. As he ran towards the smoke, the temperature rising as he got closer, he started thinking about what had occurred since Richard's digivolution. However, as he thought over it, he began to realize what they were complaining about, and now he felt ashamed of just running off like that. He would have to remember to apologize when he got back.

"But first, I got a fire to put out and what in the world happened here?"

Veemon had arrived at the source of the fire, quickly realizing that it was Primary Village. Instead of the soft mats and building block towers that he remembered from his days here, flames dominated the landscape. In the distance he could see Elecmon running off with the Baby Digimon, but he was disturbed by something else. Amongst the smoke and fire he heard a voice calling out for help. Not sure what caused it, but not really caring, Veemon headed towards the noise.

Eventually he found his way to one of the towers, and inside he could hear a Digimon's weak cries for help. A quick Vee Headbutt and he was inside. There on the ground was a Salamon, coughing as the smoke filled the room. Without hesitation Veemon grabbed the puppy Digimon and made a run out of the building. It quickly collapsed, but the two of them were safe. Getting away from the smoke and debris, Veemon placed the Salamon down. Its eyes began to open it up, and with that Veemon saw his chance to get some answers.

"What happened, why is Primary Village on fire?"

A roar behind him answered the question, and as he turned around Veemon's draw dropped. In the middle of the flames were two gigantic beasts. They were all black, except for the four (each) blood red eyes and claws. On their shoulders were painfully obvious skull designs, and their wings were filled with holes. Veemon knew what they were, and he swallowed his fear as he stood to face them.

"Devidramon, I don't know why you're doing this, but I'm going to stop it."

Veemon rushed towards the closest one, only to be swept away like a ragdoll. Getting up, wincing a little in pain, he tried again only to receive the same results. Again and again he did so, and each time getting the same results. Eventually the two Devidramon had enough of it, and when Veemon was on the ground they surrounded him. As they raised their claws to strike him down, Veemon stood up one more time.

"I am not going to give up, no matter how many times you strike me down. I'll take anything you throw at me."

The two Devidramon looked at each other, and then as they roared "Crimson Claw" they attacked. However, as the attacks made contact Veemon glowed so bright they had to back off. The glowing mass grew larger, and by the time it died off Veemon was no longer standing there. Instead, a much larger dragon stood there. Its body shape was similar to Veemon's, but there were some major differences. First off, Veemon's stomach now had a large, blue V on it. His horn had grown much more massive, and where there once were ears were now giant horns as well.

"Awesome, I've finally Digivolved into what looks like V-dramon. But no time to enjoy it, I've still got to take you two down. V-breath Arrow!"

A large blast of energy shot out of V-dramon's mouth towards the two Devidramon, who were still in shock of the transformation. It hit them both, but the split in targets had weakened the attack, and they soon were both up and ready to fight. However, so was V-dramon, and as the two lunged he powered up a punch straight towards their faces. It succeeded in hitting one, but the other kept on towards V-dramon with a Crimson Claw attack. V-dramon dodged out of the way, and with another punch sent the beast to the ground.

"Heh, that's what you get for messing with poor defenseless Digimon. Now to finish you…"

As he spoke he heard the cry of the other Devidramon as it began to attack. It was to close for him to react to, and with the other one right nearby, he was trapped. That was, until a familiar wolf's blades sliced the attacking one to bits. Before doing anything else, V-dramon finished off the other one, and with that both Devidramon were gone for good.

"Sangloupmon, I didn't expect you to come here." V-dramon said gruffly, his back turned to Sangloupmon. However, he remembered what he had agreed to do earlier, and turned around.

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. Now I know why you couldn't explain how it felt to Digivolve to me. I'm sorry for being such a pest."

"No worries about it, uh,"

"V-dramon" V-dramon said triumphantly

"No worries about it V-dramon. We all get over excited at times, and I'd probably do the same thing to you if I were in your position. And don't worry about Impmon, I'm sure he didn't mean what he said."

"Well that's nice and all you two, but you seem to have forgotten that the village is still on fire." Impmon's voice broke through the smoke, and the two Champions realized that they still had a burning village to save. The two of them went to work, pouring dirt on the fires to smother them.

**Salamon's POV**

Salamon had sat on the edge of the burning village, watching the fight between the V-dramon and Devidramon. While it was sad to see her home being destroyed, it was a sign of hope that even in these dark times there were Digimon out there willing to help. Of course, she almost closed her eyes when the Devidramon had cornered him. However, she was surprised to see that Sangloupmon from earlier helping the V-dramon.

"The two of them must be friends, but he's such a scary Digimon. Still, he's helping save the village, maybe he's not so bad after all."

She walked up to Impmon, who was watching the two other Digimon put out fires. He noticed her, and asked what she wanted.

"Well, uh, you wouldn't happen to know those two, would you?" She asked, intimidated by the part angry, part annoyed look the Impmon had on his face.

"Yeah, I know them, what's it too you?"

"Hey Impmon, we're done with the fires!" V-dramon exclaimed, though as he and Sangloupmon walked towards Impmon they degenerated back into Veemon and Gazimon.

"So, who's your friend there Impmon?" Veemon asked.

"I'm Salamon, and I wanted to thank you for helping to save Primary Village."

"It was no trouble at all, though it looks like it might be awhile before it's back up to its former glory." Richard said.

"We'll, that's true. I guess I should be going. I need to start looking for a new place to stay." Salamon began to walk off, till Richard grabbed a hold of her.

"Look, if you need to stay with someone, you can stay with us. Trust us, we'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."

While Salamon didn't like the idea of being in a group like this, right now it seemed like the best idea. With two of them being able to Digivolve, she would be safe and sound with them. Besides, they all seemed friendly enough. Except for Impmon at least. He didn't seem as friendly. Not like she would ever tell that to him.

**Duskmon's POV**

"Please, Lord Duskmon, have mercy." The Bakemon squealed between gasps of air. He was currently smashed against the wall, with Duskmon's powerful grip holding him in place.

"I want to know why those Devidramon were not able to fully destroy Primary Village, and I want those answers now."

"Well, you see oh might Lord Duskmon, the Devidramon were burning the place to a crisp when, well, funny story." Duskmon looked at him with such an intense anger that the Bakemon shivered in fear, "You know those Digimon that have been causing trouble? Well, one of them kind of Digivolved and, well, beat the Devidramon with a little bit of help from that other one that Digivolved. Isn't that funny?"

Duskmon's angry look disappeared, replaced with a sadistic glare.

"Yes, it is funny. And you know what else is funny, you being broken into billions of data pieces."

Duskmon's throne room was filled with the dying screams of Bakemon as Duskmon's giant blade pierced through him. With his worthless excuse of a minion taken care of, Duskmon sat down on his throne to consider what to do about these annoying pests. A thought went through his head. He knew the perfect Digimon to send against them.

"Excellent, I know just who to send. My little friends, prepare to meet your demise."


	6. A Freezing Battle: Impmon vs IceDevimon

Author's Note: I do not own Digimon or any related copyrights. Please feel free to review or comment about the story as well as any suggestions you may have.

* * *

**Richard's POV:**

Its been a few days since our little battle with the Devidramons at Primary Village and Salamon joining up with us. Not much has happened, and I am glad for that. Getting a break from the wild Digimon attacking us, as well as Duskmon's minions, was just what we needed. Even better, I've finally gotten the hang of fishing with my claws! Sure, eating fish every day does get boring, but I'm not going to complain.

Only one thing has been worrying me these last few days (other than Duskmon) and that's Salamon. Ever since she joined up our little group back at Primary Village she has barely spoken a word. While Veemon, Impmon, and I have been chatting around the fire she just sits there looking away. I was getting a bit worried about her. No one I knew, not even myself, was that antisocial.

Right now Impmon was sitting in a tree, as usual (what's with him and trees anyway?), and Veemon was sitting underneath it. Salamon was off a little ways, at least not within earshot. Which was perfect, because I wanted to speak to them about her.

"Hey Veemon, Impmon. I needed to talk to you about something."

"What's up Gazimon?" Veemon asked curiously.

"Eh, something wrong Gaz?" Impmon asked, though it seemed apparent he wasn't interested.

"Well, I've been a bit worried about Salamon lately. She's been with us for awhile and has barely spoken a word to any of us."

"Well, I hope you didn't forget that her entire home was burnt to a crisp just a few days ago." Impmon responded. Veemon rolled his eyes at him before responding.

"What Impmon is trying to say is that she's probably a bit bummed out about having everything she knew destroyed. I'd probably be just like that if that happened to me."

"Yeah, you guys are probably right. Still, I wish there was a way to cheer her up."

Veemon and I got straight to work on that, while Impmon continued his little disinterested attitude. That, of course, gave the two of us an idea.

**Impmon's POV:**

_I am so going to get those two back for this_

Impmon grudgingly walked over to Salamon. Veemon and Gazimon had come up with the brilliant idea of making Impmon spend the day with her. Their reasoning was "if the grumpiest member of our spent the day with her and _enjoyed _it then she would have to cheer up."

Impmon, of course, was not the happiest person. Still, they had ganged up on him, and fighting back wasn't much of an option against two Digimon who could go Champion. So there he was walking up to Salamon.

"Uh, Salamon, I wanted to ask you something." He said, his teeth partially clenched to keep his anger inside.

"Yes Impmon."

"I was wondering if you wanted to spend the day with me to get your mind off of, well, you know what."

**Salamon's POV:**

_Is this really the same Impmon from the other day? One day he acts like so uncaring and now he wants to try to comfort me? Ohhh, what do I do?_

"Uh, sure." She blurted out before she knew what she had said. Impmon started walking off, and Salamon followed right behind him for fear of being left alone. She thought she heard something behind them, so she ran up right beside him.

**Veemon's POV:**

"This is going to be so much fun to watch. I can't believe that we convinced Impmon to do this. Of course, its all in the name of making Salamon feel better."

Veemon weakly laughed while Gazimon just rolled his eyes. They were currently spying on Impmon and Salamon from the bushes, making sure that everything was going smoothly and that Impmon wasn't mouthing off.

"You know, in my world this could be considered a date…and before you ask a date is, oh, how do I explain this. Uh, a date is when two people who really like each other go out for dinner or hang out or… why in the world am I explaining this to you."

"I don't. I generally just nod off when you start talking about your world. It gets really boring sometimes. Anyways, I don't think these two are on a 'date' as you call it because if that requires them to like each other, then Impmon clearly ruins that possibility."

"I guess your right." Gazimon turned his attention back to Impmon and Salamon, noticing something was wrong with the ground. It seemed a bit cracked look.

"Hey Veemon, is the ground supposed to look like that?"

"Look like, uh oh. Impmon, Salamon get out of there!" Veemon yelled as he ran out of the bushes. Impmon turned around to speak, but was stopped as the ground beneath him and Salamon opened up into a giant hole. Veemon and Gazimon ran over to the edge as Salamon and Impmon began falling.

"This doesn't look good."

**Impmon's POV:**

As Impmon and Salamon fell, Impmon grabbed Salamon to make sure they stayed together whenever they reached the bottom. It didn't take that long to reach, and soon the two of them landed on a cold, hard, stone floor. Impmon rubbed his sore back as he stood up. Looking around, he noticed that wherever they landed it looked like some kind of ruin. Old, worn columns filled the room with carvings of symbols all over it. More important, though was Salamon was nearby. She seemed okay.

"Nothing a little time won't take care of."

Impmon started walking around the room, eventually stumbling upon a hallway. He was about to head down it when he felt something around his leg. He didn't even look down when he started talking.

"Salamon, could you back off a little bit?"

"Sorry Impmon," She quietly said as she backed up a bit, "I didn't mean to get in your way."

"Well, just stay back a little okay? If something happens I can't fight back if you're hanging on me like that."

With that the two of them headed down the hallway, with Impmon keeping his hand on the wall to make sure he kept going in the same direction. It was really dark down there, and the further from the hole they got the darker it got. Within a few minutes they could barely see the few feet in front of them. Salamon had gotten much closer to Impmon, but he didn't want to argue about it at the moment. Eventually the two of them reached a split in the hallway.

"Alright then. I'll go left, you go right. Just yelp if you need me." Impmon started heading down his hallway, but stopping when he felt Salamon close by again.

"Look, I told you to go right."

"But, it's so dark and scary and we need to stick together."

"You know that you're annoying, right? Now go down the right hallway, got it?"

"But"

"But nothing. I don't want you clinging to me like this. So suck it up and go down the hallway. I can take care of this on my own."

Impmon stomped off down the hallway.

**Salamon's POV:**

_I don't know what's scarier, Impmon when he's angry or that hallway._

Fearing Impmon's wrath more than the hallway, Salamon backtracked a little ways and turned down the right hallway. Just like the rest of the place it was dark, and Salamon was shaking in fear. But she had to keep going, if only so Impmon wouldn't be mad at her. Things started getting worse, though, as she began hearing sounds like someone was in the hallway with her. Turning around, she meekly called out "Who's there."

The last thing she remembered was an evil laugh and a pair of red eyes.

**Impmon's POV:**

"How long is this, oh, finally, some light up ahead." Impmon mumbled.

Impmon walked into a gigantic, circular chamber with torches lining the wall. Just like the room they fell into it had the carvings and ancient ruin look to it. However, that wasn't what he was concerned about. What he was concerned about was the fact that Salamon was in a cage, unconscious, straight in the middle of the chamber. Rushing over to her, his anger at her gone, he started to gently push her to wake her up.

"Come on you little puppy, wake up and tell me what's going on." Impmon froze, though, as he heard a voice behind him as the room turned suddenly cold.

"Impmon, no need to concern yourself with this cowardly little pup. If I were you, you should be more worried about me."

Turning around, Impmon saw whom the voice belonged to. Standing in the doorway that he had just come from was a large, humanoid Digimon. His arms were almost as long as the rest of his body, and blazoned on his chest was a red, horned head that matched his real one. On his back was a pair of wings torn with holes. He was colored completely white, except for his red eyes. Between the look and the cold, Impmon knew exactly who this Digimon was.

"Ice Devimon. What are you doing here?" Impmon snapped. He remembered all the rumors he heard about this Digimon, and knew he was one of the worst Digimon on File Island

"Oh, nothing really. A friend of mine of mine asked me to eliminate some pests of his. And you just happened to be on the list."

_Duskmon. He's caught onto us. He must have sent those Devidramon to attack Primary Village._

"I'm sorry to say that I'm not going to be eliminated by the likes of you, and neither will my friends. I bet they'll be here any minute and take you down."

"Oh, really? Why, I expected more from you Impmon. I've heard about your two friends. They already can go Champion, and poor old you can't. Pity."

"Grrr, oh yeah! I don't need them to beat you. I can beat you all by myself. Badaboom."

Impmon shot a blast of fire towards IceDevimon, who just simply patted it away. Impmon was getting frustrated at this. He couldn't Digivolve, and his attacks didn't look like they were going to do much.

"What, was that it? A little light show? Well, guess I should show you mine. Frozen Claw"

IceDevimon swung at Impmon with a strike filled with icy power, striking him easily. Impmon was sent flying, only stopping once he crashed into the wall. Looking up, he saw IceDevimon walking towards him with an evil grin. Impmon tried standing up, only to have IceDevimon pick him up and hold him against the wall.

"You see you little punk, your friends aren't here to help you and you aren't going to Digivolve. Its all over, but I have one last thing I want to say. I'm going to enjoy feeding on you and your little friend's data."

Impmon continued struggling to get out of his grip, but his energy was soon running up. He watched as IceDevimon prepared for one last strike. At that moment, he heard Salamon stirring up in the cage.

_I can't let it end like this. Veemon and Gazimon can do it, so can I. Besides, with Salamon always getting so scared I can't let her see me like this. I am not going to be beat so easily._

As IceDevimon's claw headed towards him, Impmon began to glow with energy. It IceDevimon let him go and watched as Impmon began to Digivolve. As the light faded, Impmon was no longer standing there. What did appear was much different. First off he was wearing clothes other than just a bandanna around his neck. He was wearing a pair of boots with gold buckles, yellow pants with zippers over it, a red vest, and a blue cloak that covered most of his face. He was also wearing a long, pointy blue hat with a skull on it. Finally, his glove-covered hands were holding a staff with a sun on the top.

"Hmm, so you think that just because you evolved into a Wizardmon you'll be able to stop me? Don't make me laugh. Avalanche Claw."

IceDevimon sent a blast of icicles towards Wizardmon, but all that Wizardmon did was raise up his hand.

"Thunder Ball."

Wizardmon sent out blasts of lightning, which quickly destroyed the icicles. IceDevimon ran towards him again with a Frozen Claw, but Wizardmon just moved out of the way by jumping onto his arm. "Thunder Ball." Wizardmon sent a blast of lightning towards IceDevimon, who was sent gripping his face as Wizardmon jumped back onto the ground.

IceDevimon looked up at Wizardmon, and then at Salamon.

"Well, lets see how well you deal when your friend here is frozen solid. Tundra Freeze."

IceDevimon sent a freezing beam towards Salamon, who was panicking at this point. Wizardmon pointed his staff at the blast. "Magical Game". A blast of blue lightning was sent and intercepted the beam. The two Champions were at a face off as the beams struggled between each other. One minute it was closer to IceDevimon, the next Wizardmon.

"Well, it seems that you've provided a challenge after all. I can see why Duskmon is so interested in eliminating you. But yet, I've had so much fun with this I don't I can let it end like this. So I think I'll finish you off another day."

Ice Devimon sent a surge of power into his beam, which soon quickly overpowered Wizardmon's. Both him and Salamon were hit with the beam and frozen as IceDevimon left the ruins.

**Richard's POV:**

"Veemon, I think there up here somewhere. I heard a big commo… what in the world happened here?"

After Impmon and Salamon had fallen into the hole, Veemon and I had wandered around the area trying to find a way in. We did, after falling down into these ruins through another hole. We wandered around for awhile before I caught on to Impmon's scent. Tracking them was tough, but eventually we ended up in this chamber. It was covered in ice, and in the middle were a frozen Wizardmon and Salamon.

"It looks like there was a battle here, with Salamon in the middle. But if that's Salamon, then that Wizardmon must be Impmon!" Veemon ran over to the frozen Wizardmon and smashed him free with a Vee Headbutt. The Wizardmon fell on the ground and dedigivolved back into Impmon. Veemon moved onto Salamon while I helped up Impmon.

"Are you alright Impmon?" I asked as I put his arm around my shoulder for support.

"Yeah, I'm alright. A little chilly is all. About time you two showed up. Where's IceDevimon, I'm not done with him."

"Uh, Impmon, there isn't anyone else here. I'm going to say that this IceDevimon is long gone. But still, you did Digivolve and tried your best. That's all that counts. Now let get out of this place."

The four of us headed out of the ruins, and by this time it was night. Veemon set up a fire to warm up Impmon and Salamon, who looked like they were freezing to death. They filled us in on what happened in the ruins, and Veemon was fired up for sure.

"That Duskmon makes me so angry. Between sending out a Champion to beat down Impmon, destroying Primary Village, and now this IceDevimon, I just want to beat his face in. That's it, we're at the base of Infinity Mountain by the look of it so tomorrow we're taking him down."

Impmon nodded in agreement, though Salamon and me just sat there. I could see where he was coming from but taking down Duskmon wasn't going to be easy.

_No, I'm here for a reason, and that's to save the Digital World. I'm going to have to face Duskmon eventually, so that's what I'm going to do._

"I'm with you all the way Veemon. Duskmon won't know what hit him when we're done with him."

"I'm in too." We all turned when we heard Salamon's voice. Both Impmon and I showed some concern, but Veemon as usual didn't.

"Alright then Salamon, I officially welcome you to the group. Together we're going to take down Duskmon and save File Island."


	7. Salamon Runs Off

**Author's Note:** I do not own Digimon in any way or form. Please leave comments and review about the story. They are always appreciated.

* * *

**Richard's POV:**

The last few days have been a rush of activity in our preparation to battle Duskmon. Impmon, Veemon, and I practiced Digivolving into our champion forms as well as practicing our moves. We also began stocking up on food and other supplies, not knowing how long we would be in Duskmon's lair. Speaking of that lair, everyday we found ourselves closing in on it as each day passed. Eventually we reached the base of Infinity Mountain, the final stretch on our quest. All of us were frightened, that was for sure. Who wouldn't be when they were about to face down the most evil Digimon on the island.

However, not everything was gloomy and fearful. After the ruin incident, Salamon had become much warmer and friendly with us. While not the little ball of social energy like Veemon, she was much more delightful to be with. Sure, she didn't laugh with us when we laughed, but the fact that she was talking was a big step. Still, we had one worry about her; what to do with her since she hadn't Digivolved? We were afraid of discussing it with her nearby, and so the night before the ascent the three of us huddled to discuss what to do with Salamon.

"We can't leave her behind, that's for sure. I say that she stick with one of us and hopefully she'll digivolve during a battle." Veemon suggested.

"But what if she doesn't? She sure didn't in the ruins. Besides, I can tell you having to lug her around is not fun. She's scared of her own shadow for crying out loud." Impmon complained.

Veemon and Impmon began arguing over whether to bring Salamon or not. I, on the other hand, sat back and attempted to think over it. Sure, each of them had a point. But they had seemed to forget that she had no home. So to a degree we were her family now, and you don't leave family behind. Still, would it be wise to bring her along?

As the three of us thought and argued over it, we failed to notice Salamon had entered the area. The three of us quickly looked up, and I was almost heartbroken when I saw her eyes tearing up like a puppy that had just been scolded.

"I.I.I'm sorry I'm such a burden to you all. I didn't mean to make you all fight like this. It's best that I get going now." Salamon choked out as she ran out of the area.

Impmon and Veemon quickly started blaming each other for it. I placed my paws over my ears, wanting to drown it out. Right now I could see why she wanted to leave. These two were just a pain.

"Its both of your faults for arguing like that you jerks." I yelled, startling both of the bickering Digimon.

"What happened to our little moment of heroism just the other day when we all agreed to take down Duskmon, hm? Look at us now, bickering while one of our own runs from it. You two should be ashamed for acting like this."

I took a deep breath, as I was just as surprised at what I said as they were. They looked down at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with me. Though the silence only lasted a moment, it seemed like ages. Eventually Impmon spoke up.

"I hate to say it, but your right. If we're going to beat Duskmon we need to straighten up and get a move on."

"I'm sorry about the bickering too Gazimon. So," Veemon's usual fire began to show up again as he spoke," lets go find Salamon, climb Infinity Mountain, and beat Duskmon to a pulp."

The three of us headed into the woods, failing to notice that the path had began to climb around the mountain.

**Salamon's POV:**

Salamon had run off in a moment of intense emotions, but once she had gotten the chance to calm down she didn't like what she saw. The warm glow of the campfire wasn't anywhere in sight, and all around her were the dark woods of Infinity Mountain. With the threat of Duskmon's forces attacking her the woods were even scarier. She sat down on the ground, remembering ever since she was hatched from a Digitama that you should remain in one spot if you were lost so it was easier to be found.

"Let's hope it's my friends that find me."

It didn't take to long for the three of them to catch up to her, and after comforting her a bit Impmon had to start on a angry rant.

"What were you thinking pup? You can't Digivolve, and none of us could protect you. You could have died, and then all three of us would have felt so guilty about it that our heads would be seriously messed up? Is that what you want to do, mentally scar us? I'm starting to think that it would be better off if you never joined us."

When he finished Salamon was starting to tear again, and Impmon had located himself on a tree looking like grump. While Gazimon and Veemon tried to comfort Salamon (informing her that acting like a heartless jerk was Impmon's way of showing he cared), she was busy thinking to herself.

_Impmon's right, it would have been better off if I never joined this group. I'm just useless baggage to them. All I do is get in the way._

Eventually Gazimon and Veemon gave up trying to cheer her up and headed off to bed. They hoped that by the morning everyone would have had a chance to calm down and discuss this rationally.

However, Salamon had different plans. Once everyone was asleep, she headed out of the campsite. She took one last look at them, and almost hesitated. But she knew they were better off without her, and so she did what Impmon said to do; leave.

It was a terrible business to do so. It was still dark, and with the woods there wasn't even the relief that a little moonlight could bring to it. Every little movement or sound made Salamon jump, but she kept on it.

_With me out of the way everyone will be happier. Impmon won't have me hanging on him, and Gazimon and Veemon won't have to bother trying to keep me happy._

There was one problem to Salamon's plan. In her emotional state she had failed to take notice where exactly she was going. And so, every step took her closer and closer to Duskmon's lair. As she moved on she noticed the trees had begun to disappear, leaving only dirt and rocks. The moon was visible, but instead of a soothing comfort it made the mood even scarier.

She considered heading back and forgetting this ever happened, but she never got the chance to do so. Something grabbed her from behind and dragged her away from the side of the mountain into a nearby cave entrance. She was thrown into a cell, once again a prisoner of one of Duskmon's forces. This time, instead of Ice Devimon, a ghost Digimon called Bakemon was the one responsible. Sadly for Salamon, there was a whole bunch of them around, about 10 in total. One of them, the one who had captured her, was slightly larger and so she figures he's the leader. He began speaking to the others, obviously about her.

"Well men, lord Duskmon will be proud. We've captured one of those pests' friends, and by the way it looks she is a cowardly one as well. We'll have her tell us where they are in no time. And we all know how we're going to do that, right?" He asked with an evil grin.

"The Comfy Chair?" One Bakemon spoke up.

"No, not the Comfy Chair you idiot. We're going to beat it out of her."

Salamon's heart sank when she heard that. These guys were going to beat her till she told them where her friends were. She knew full well that she couldn't last too long before she did so. But if she did tell, then her friends would be at Duskmon's nonexistent mercy. One surprise attack and it would be all over. That would not happen if she had anything to do with it.

"No you won't," she said with a confidence she never knew she had, "I won't tell you where they are even if you beat me back to a Digitama. I've been afraid far too long and I'm sick of it. If you want to know where they are, you won't be getting it from me."

The group of Bakemon laughed, till they noticed Salamon glowing. They quickly realized what was happening, and several shot out decaying hands (Dark Claw attack) in attempt to stop her from Digivolving. However, ironically, the cell bars prevented the attacks from reaching her, and soon it was all over. Where once a Salamon stood, a Gatomon was there. Her ears were tipped in a purple fur, which also appeared as rings alternating with white fur (the dominant color) on her tail alongside a golden ring. Her front paws were covered in a yellow glove with some red marks on it. Other than that she looked like an average cat.

Gatomon didn't give the Bakemon much time to react. "Cat's Eye" she said as one of the Bakemon fell under its hypnotic spell. It headed towards the cell door in order to free her, but the rest of the Bakemon jumped him to stop him as they tried to break him out of it. Unknown to them, Gatomon had used it as a distraction. With the all grace and flexibility of a cat, she was able to squeeze through the jail cells. She looked over at the Bakemon, who had failed to notice her escape. Resisting the chance to snicker at how silly they looked, she simply walked out of the cave.

"Well, that was easier than catching fish in a barrel. It's a good thing Bakemon aren't the brightest Digimon in the world."

"Where do you think you're going?"

Turning around, Gatomon saw the head Bakemon had slipped out of the cave to confront her. The chance of an easy escape was gone, but she had wanted to try out her new level anyway. And this was the perfect time to do so.

As the head Bakemon unleashed another Dark Claw attack, Gatomon took advantage of a cat's reflexes to get out of the way. She then felt a surge of energy in her claw as she headed straight towards him. "Lightning Paw" could be heard from inside the cave, and the Bakemon headed out to see what the matter was. When they arrived, all they could see was their knocked out leader, and a little spot of purple in the woods. They gulped when they realized what had happened.

"Duskmon is so going to turn as all into Digiscraps." They commented before quietly sneaking off of the mountain in fear of Duskmon's wrath.

Meanwhile, Gatomon arrived back at camp, where she found that the rest of the guys were still asleep. She had to smile at the scene; Impmon was laying back on one of the branches while Veemon, on another branch, was snoring away while half off it. As for Gazimon he was lying curled up on the ground, a good distance away from Veemon for both quiet and safety reasons. Walking quietly over she curled up on the ground near Gazimon. She was tired, and was looking forward to sleeping as well as relating the night's events to everyone in the morning.

Her eyes were halfway closed when she heard Gazimon quietly whisper, "Congrats on the Digivolving Salamon." Everyone slept well that night even with the knowledge that in the morning they were about to face the biggest challenge yet; Duskmon.


	8. Duskmon Showdown

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank WritingQueen690 for being my first reviewer. And yes, I hope I get more reviews in the future.Remember that I do not own Digimon or any of its related copyrights.

**Richard's POV:**

"Okay guys, this is it everyone. From this point there is no going back. We either win against Duskmon or die trying." Veemon announced to the group.

"Do you have to make it sound that dramatic?" I asked.

All four of us were standing in the cave that Salamon had gotten locked up in the night before. There was an entrance into the lair of Duskmon located here, and she had thought it would be the best way to get in without going through the front door. Impmon, Veemon, and I had agreed with her on that point, and so she led the way. Veemon and I agreed that since she Digivolved she had been a little more confidant, and surprisingly enough Impmon thought so as well. Between that and the fact all of us could Digivolve, we were bursting with confidence.

So on that note, Veemon nudged open the door, and all of us stared into the gaping darkness of the hallway. My heart sunk when I looked in. I never been a big fan of the dark, and this was the darkest hallway I have ever seen. Veemon, of course, had no trouble and rushed right in. Impmon followed right behind, though at a steadier pace.

Salamon, on the other hand, held back with me. She was obviously scared of it as well, even with Veemon and Impmon calling out for us to hurry up.

"Uh, Gazimon, why don't you go ahead and go first. I'll be right behind you." She nervously said. Of course, she didn't know that I was just as scared as her, but she looked up to the rest of us for courage. I couldn't let her down, could I? Still, the hallway was so dark I couldn't even see Veemon and them.

"Salamon, why don't you climb on my back and I'll carry you. That way you'll feel a bit more secure and so we can catch up with them."

_And so I'll feel a little bit more secure as well._

Salamon nodded her head in agreement, and so I got down on all fours so she could get on my back. After taking a minute so she could get herself comfortable, I started heading into the hallway. Lucky for us Veemon and Impmon were still calling out for us, and eventually we caught up to them. By that point our eyes as well as theirs had adjusted to the darkness.

"Hmm, what are you, some kind of piggyback service?" Impmon grumbled when he saw me with Salamon on my back. I just glared up at him, and he just rolled his eyes right back.

The hallway was dark, that was for sure, but as we headed in further we could start seeing some light from torches. Salamon and I breathed a sigh of relief, though it was soon discovered why there was light. We ran into another door, and Impmon opened it a little to see what was behind it (Veemon had offered, but we all agreed he'd probably ruin the element of surprise). He quickly shut the door, and when we turned around we could all tell he was worried.

"The Mess Hall. This dang hallway led us to the Mess Hall, and everyone is eating breakfast right now. We're stuck until they all leave."

"Good, that gives us some time to think of a plan of action." I suggested.

"Plan? Why do we need a plan? I say we all Digivolve and just blast our way through till we find Duskmon." Veemon exclaimed. The rest of us glared at him, and he quickly shut up. We all knew that wouldn't be a smart idea as it would be a waste of energy to go bursting in. So we did the only thing we could do; wait.

**Veemon's POV:**

I hope those Digimon hurry up. I want to get a move on. Every minute we sit here is another minute Duskmon is ruining some poor Digimon's life.

Veemon sat fidgeting while the others discussed on what to do. They all agreed that caution and stealth would be needed if they were going to succeed. However, that wasn't Veemon's style. He wanted to just run in there and fight his way through till they found Duskmon and crush him. The temptation arose to just get up, Digivolve, and just do it, but that would involve leaving his friends behind. Still, just sitting there made him feel so useless. Just right behind that door was Duskmon's lair, and they were just sitting.

While the others weren't looking he moved over to the door. He opened it a crack and looked through. The hall was empty.

"Guys, guys, its empty. Lets get a move on!"

Before the others had a chance to get up and take a look themselves Veemon had rushed right through the door into the room. He stood in the middle of the room as the others started working their way in.

"Come on guys, hurry up. They could be back any…minute?" Veemon's voice faded as one by one Bakemon started appearing around them. Soon they were completely surrounded by them.

"See, look what you did now Veemon. Surprise was completely thrown out you over zealous idiot." Impmon scolded.

"Guys, this really isn't the best time to start fighting each other." Gazimon said as the Bakemon started closing in on each other.

The two Digimon grunted a "Fine" as they and the rest of the group started glowing. When the glow as gone, their Champion forms stood visible. Each faced in one direction.

"V-Nova Blast" An arrow-shaped blast headed towards the Bakemon from V-dramon.

"Thunder Ball" Blasts of lighting streamed from Wizardmon's fingertips.

"Sticker Blades" A flurry of knives was sent out from Sangloupmon.

"Lightning Paw" Gatomon started swiping at the Bakemon.

Apparently the Bakemon weren't a very coherent fighting force, for they quickly disbanded and made a run for it.

"That was easy. And you guy's were worried rushing in wouldn't work." V-dramon cheerfully said. The others, however, weren't looking too cheerful. He didn't understand why though. They just beat off a force of Bakemon without even breaking a sweat. This should be a time to rejoice, not worry.

V-dramon soon quickly found out why they weren't happy when he heard the sound of someone clapping behind him.

"Well, well, well. How nice to finally see you four in person. Thank you for the wonderful entertainment. However, this will be your final performance. No one crosses me and gets away with it."

Turning around, V-dramon said what the rest of them were saying as well.

"Duskmon."

**Salamon/Gatomon's POV:**

Salamon had never felt so scared in her life as that very moment. In front of them was the villain that was responsible for destroying her home and causing all the residents of File Island so much pain. Still, his very presence had a sense of power and fear that made her ears press back against her head. Looking around at the others she could tell that they were just as afraid.

_I don't think we can do this. No, get a hold of yourself Gatomon. Your no longer that scared little puppy that you once were. Your brave, you can handle yourself. You're a Champion level Digimon now so start acting like one._

**Impmon/Wizardmon's POV:**

Impmon was having a similar problem as Salamon. This was the guy who had sent a BlackGreymon to kill him over a debt, and now it was time to repay the favor. Still, seeing him in person was a bit intimidating. Looking over at the others, he was surprised to see a face of determination on Gatomon

_Alright then Wizardmon, if that pup Gatomon can be brave enough to face down Duskmon, then so can you. Your not going to let her upstage you, are yah?_

**Richard's POV:**

I took a good hard look at Duskmon when he walked in. It shocked me a bit to see that he was a human-like Digimon. Except for that armor, that armor had nothing human about it. It was black, blacker than anything I have ever seen. The boots and gauntlets had what looked like skulls designed on them. The legs and arms weren't as heavily armored, but there was something disturbing about the red and black stripes on them.

But the creepiest thing of all were the eyes. They were everywhere on his armor. One on each of his feet, knees, and shoulders. There was also one on his forehead, but the worse was the one on his chest. It was the largest, and it was looking straight at us. I gulped a little bit just looking at him. I could even feel my legs shaking a little. Looking over at the others, I felt a little relief to see they were scared as well. I felt even more relieved when I saw that they were getting over it. Even Gatomon was starting to look ready to face him down.

_Alright Richard, this is it. You've gone through to much to back down now. We're going to take Duskmon down. You got your friends to back you up, and they have you to back them up._

"Ready everyone?" I asked.

"Ready!" They replied voices full of confidence.

Similar to the Bakemon, we all sent our attacks straight at Duskmon. A mix of energy, lightning, and knives were heading straight towards him. Gatomon was bringing on the rear, ready to strike with a Lightning Paw when he was off guard from the blasts. It didn't work well. Two red swords appeared from his gauntlet, and with one swipe V-dramon's attack as broken. Another one and there went Wizardmon's. And with a flurry of movement he blocked off my knives. Gatomon turned around to get back to us before she got to him. However, he provided some assistance as lasers shot out from his arms and chest eyes, which sent Gatomon flying as they hit right behind her.

"Is that the best you four have to offer? It was pitiful to say the least. Now why don't you take a shot at blocking mine? Deadly Gaze."

More lasers were sent from the eyes on his armor, and we were forced to break away from each other to dodge them. I landed a little ways off from V-dramon while Wizardmon was near Gatomon.

"My, my, a little jumpy aren't we? Well, why don't I just cut those legs of yours right off and let your feet take a little dirt nap."

Duskmon rushed towards V-dramon and I with his swords ready to strike. I started to move, but V-dramon stood ready to face him. His horn and one of Duskmon's swords locked together. Each struggled to beat the other, but apparently V-dramon had forgotten that Duskmon had two swords. He was about to pierce V-dramon, but I quickly rushed at him, jumping to get a shot at one of those eyes. A minute later I was sent crashing to the ground, and I could actually hear myself whimper like a dog would. I stood up, but I was having some trouble moving and knew I wouldn't be of much help.

"Wizardmon, Gatomon, try to get to Duskmon before V-dramon gets hurt."

They nodded, and headed straight for Duskmon. Waving his wand, Wizardmon sent a blast of lightning towards Duskmon while Gatomon headed to strike his legs. From my point I could see a glint in his eyes that reminded me of a smirk. He broke off contact with V-dramon's horn and moved out of the way. V-dramon, who had been pressing as much force as possible into trying to beat Duskmon's sword, stumbled forward straight into Wizardmon's and Gatomon's attacks. He was down, paralyzed from the lightning strike.

"Why, we just started and I've already taken two of you down. All that's left is a wannabe wizard and a kitty cat. I guess I'll be having lunch early today."

Wizardmon and Gatomon stood by each other, ready to strike when needed. However, I could tell they were getting worried as they kept glancing between V-dramon and me.

"Don't worry about us, just take down Duskmon."

I saw Wizardmon whisper something to Gatomon, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Afterwards Gatomon started racing towards me while he headed towards V-dramon.

"What are you two doing? You got to beat Duskmon."

"No, we're getting out of here. Wizardmon's going to see what he can do about V-dramon, and I'm going to help you out of here."

I was about to plead, but the look of concern on her face made me second-guess that. I began standing up, my legs weak from being sent crashing to the floor. Gatomon held onto me as we limped out. Wizardmon was doing something similar, though I assumed that some magic must have been involved since V-dramon was such a big fellow.

"Aww, what a cute little scene. The kitty helping the big, bad, wolf run away while the wizard helps the dragon out. It almost makes me want to cry and just let you go. Almost."

Two shots of lasers and Wizardmon and Gatomon were down. If the scent certain death weren't hanging in the air I would have told them "I told you so." Still, the idea that they just risked themselves to save us was touching. I was still standing, the only one really. For how long I didn't know. I looked over at Duskmon, unconsciously letting out a growl.

"Look, we were just leaving. You won, and that didn't seem enough. For a moment I was agreeing with them getting away, but now I'm going to stay and fight even if it kills me. We've gone through to much to jus give up because it was harder than we thought. I don't care if I get blasted to data, but I'm going to help take you down one way or another."

Duskmon started to laugh, but it was quickly cut short. The Digivice, which I had almost forgotten existed, started letting out a light that enveloped all of us. I felt my legs getting stronger, as well as the rest of my body. V-dramon, Wizardmon, and Gatomon were also getting up. Duskmon, however, looked as if something was burning him alive.

"This is our chance everyone. Lets give it one more shot. Sticker Blade!"

"V-Nova Blast!"

"Thunder Ball!"

"Lightning Paw!"

This time the attacks were placed so they would all hit at the same time except Gatomon's, which would hit a split second later. And unlike last time, it worked. Duskmon was hit straight in the giant eye on his chest, and the scream that came from it made my shiver in fright. Still, he was down, and Gatomon's punch was the final straw.

He laid there on the ground, the rest of us breathing heavy (or panting in my case) as we watched him began to dissolve. Bits of data were going everywhere, and he was just looking at us with all of his eyes.

For a moment I swear I saw another Digimon. It was similar in that it was a humanoid, but his armor was much different. Instead of skulls and eyes it had lion heads. It was a lot less frightening. And it looked, glad. However, this appeared for a split second before finally disappearing.

"Guys, did you see what I saw."

They all nodded as the light enveloping us disappeared, and we were all back to our Rookie forms.

"Who do you think that was?" I asked. They shrugged, and I was going to consult the Digivice about it, but we we're all too tired. However, there wasn't anytime to rest. We had to get out of there before anyone else noticed Duskmon's disappearance. Heading back to the door, I offered Salamon another ride.

"No thanks. I think after that encounter a dark hallway isn't that scary." Salamon said, a smile on her face as she realized the truth of that statement.

"Suit yourself. I wasn't doing it for that though. I was doing it to thank you for almost getting yourself killed just to rescue me. It's the least you deserve. But if you don't want to..."

We all laughed as she quickly got on my back, and as he walked down that hallway I couldn't help but smile when I heard her breathing getting a little heavier as she fell asleep.

**Daemon's POV:**

"So, you say that Duskmon has been defeated by an upstart group of Digimon. And that these four Digimon are most likely heading towards the Server continent?" Daemon asked. He was sitting on a throne and in front of him an old man, or at least what looked like one, was looking over a reflecting pool.

"Yes Daemon, but I don't think there is anything to fear. I have a servant of mine that should take care of them easily enough. Even that one Azulongmon picked himself won't be a threat much longer."

"You better be correct Barbamon. Lowemon was a bit of annoyance during the war, and to defeat the corrupted version of him was no small task. However, Duskmon wasn't that valuable, so it's not a total loss. Still, better keep an eye on them, especially that Gazimon"

Looking over to a crystal, which served as a mirror into the Dark Area, Daemon looked upon Azulongmon's half-conscious body.

"Your one sly Digimon Azulongmon. Bringing in a human as a Digimon, hoping to get by me. Well, it seems that I've spoiled your little game. It will be over soon enough. I can guarantee it."


	9. A Brand New Enemy Appears

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank Glory Nizenea and StargazerDigimon for the positive reviews. Keep on reading and commenting everyone. However, there will be delays on it since my internet access will be limited for the next few weeks. Also, I do not own Digimon or any of its related copyrights.

* * *

**Richard's POV:**

After defeating Duskmon we had to make our way through that dark hallway again. However, this time it wasn't scary at all, though I guess without having to worry Duskmon anymore nothing was that scary. Still, walking into daylight after all that time in the dark was a bit surprising, and we had to spend a minute before our eyes readjusted to the outside light. By the way the sun looked it was around early afternoon, which mean we had spent the entire morning in that hallway and fighting Duskmon. Salamon begun waking up, and so I helped get her off my back and onto the ground.

"So what are we supposed to do now that Duskmon is gone? I mean, isn't that why I was sent here to begin with?" I asked.

"Well, with Duskmon gone File Island is going to start recovering from his rule. Primary Village will probably get rebuilt as well. But I'm not sure what we are going to do next. Maybe we should stay here a little longer to help out" Impmon said.

"I know exactly what we are going to do next. We're getting off File Island and heading to Server to take down the rest of those Demon Lords and their minions." Veemon said with his usual burst of excitement and fury.

"I'm going to go wherever you three go. I've gotten a lot stronger since I've hung out with you, and, well, I want to get even more stronger so I can help Digimon instead of being just a scared, little Salamon." Salamon said.

"Looks like its up to you Gazimon. What do you want to do?" Impmon said.

I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do. Duskmon was gone and File Island was free. If that was what I was sent for then my mission was over with and I would be leaving soon. But at the same time I wanted to stay and help my friends here save the Digital World. Yet, I wanted to go home and see my family.

_Oh, my family. They must be worried to death about me. I've been in here for days, so in the Real World I've probably been gone long enough for a Missing Person Alert to be issued. But still, if I leave I'll never see my friends here again, won't I?_

Thinking about my family and how much they missed me had depressed me, so I plopped down on the ground.

"I don't really know guys. I just don't know. I want to stay here and help, but at the same time I miss my family and being human. Besides, with Duskmon gone I think I might be leaving soon anyway. But I'm sure you three can handle it"

Salamon and Veemon were quick to come over and comfort me while Impmon stood over leaning against the side of the mountain.

"I know it must be hard being away from your family for so long. But you have to go with us to beat the Demon Lords. Without you I don't any of us would have even considered fighting them. Your sort of our inspirational leader." Veemon said with a smile.

"Veemon's right Gazimon, or do you want us to call you Richard to make you feel more human?" Salamon asked. I told her Gazimon would be fine before she continued. It felt weird being called that, but here in the Digital World calling a Digimon Richard would be weird as well. And as they say, when in Rome do as the Romans.

"Like I said, Veemon's right. If you and Veemon hadn't come along and beat those Devidramon at Primary Village I would have never gotten as brave as I am now. I even Digivolved. It's all thanks to you. We need you Gazimon."

I was feeling a lot better by this point, though all of us had to glance over at Impmon. He looked confused for a moment before he just closed his eyes and spoke.

"If you're waiting for me to say something sappy, forget it. I don't work that way."

"I'm sure Impmon is thinking the same thing Gazimon. He's just to 'cool' to say it." Salamon whispered. We three got a small laugh out of it while Impmon just rolled his eyes at us.

"Thanks guys, I really needed that. Still, even though I want to stay here I want to go home, at least so my family knows that I'm here. Though knowing my mom she'd probably do everything in her power to keep me at home."

"Well, your mom isn't here to stop you so lets get a move on." Veemon grabbed my paw and helped my up. After getting the dirt out of my fur we started heading down the mountain. Now that there wasn't some big evil Digimon waiting to kill us it was, okay it was still a creepy mountain. We all kind of walked down the mountain as quickly as possible, but stopped when we reached the bottom. All of us prepared to attack, as at the bottom was a group of Bakemon.

"No, wait, please let us explain! We don't want to fight you." One of them, a larger one than the rest, said.

"Gazimon, that's the one who wanted to torture me last night. I don't trust him." Salamon growled to us.

"Our humblest apologizes for that madam. We were under orders to arrest and torture you. But now that Duskmon is gone we're free, and we owe it all to you. If there is any way we can help…"

"Why should we trust you all? First you try to torture Salamon and then you try to kill us all before we fought Duskmon." Impmon said as he prepared a small flame to attack with.

"We told you, we were under orders. I am sincere in saying that we have no ill intentions towards you. We will do all that is in our power to assist you in your quest, no matter what they may be."

Veemon, Impmon, and Salamon were ready to pounce, but I was relaxing a bit. They seemed sincere in their apology, and I could understand their situation. Even I would have followed Duskmon's orders, if I didn't have my friends here to support me.

"Guys, I think we should let them help. I think they're telling the truth."

The other three just stared at me in shock.

"What, are you crazy, they tried to kill us. Kill us. You know, the thing where you are obliterated into tiny bits of data." Impmon said, obviously a bit ticked at me.

"Yeah, well, I believe them. I mean, think about it. If you were working for someone like Duskmon, wouldn't you do anything that he said?"

Impmon looked like he was about to argue, but he shut his mouth. Crossing his arms he gave an evil glare and just said "Fine." The other two backed off as well, and soon I turned my attention to the Bakemon.

"Alright then, we've agreed to let you help us out."

"Oh, thank you. You are all so very merciful." The Bakemon said, all the others agreeing with him

**Impmon's POV:**

_Gazimon, you are an idiot. We can't trust these guys at all. They tried to kill us. But if you want to trust them, fine. Don't say I didn't warn you._

With the Bakemon ready to assist them the group had headed down to the shore of the island to begin working on a way to reach the Server Continent. Several plans were made, ranging from riding a Whamon (there weren't any available, much to Richard's relief) to flying there on Devidramon (Impmon quickly struck it down, saying it would be too tiresome).

Eventually they decided on making a raft. This would require a lot of trees, to which the Bakemon gladly went to work on cutting down. Veemon Digivolved to V-dramon and went with them to provide some assistance. Impmon was 'supervising', though in reality he wasn't doing anything.

.Meanwhile Gazimon and Salamon worked on figuring out how to tie the logs together. Rope wasn't available, but the day was saved by one of Veemon and Gazimon's old friends.

V-dramon came out of the woods followed by a yellow, larval Digimon. It had black lightning bolt shapes around where his eyes were and a large blue beak.

"Hey guys, this here is Kunemon. Veemon and I met him as Flymon, and he wanted to help us out."

"I wanted to make up for attacking you guys and for beating Duskmon. After fighting with you two I ran into some of Duskmon's goons. They beat me till I degenerated, and I've been wandering around since. Please, let me help you with your raft."

To Impmon's displeasure everyone agreed to let him help. He couldn't understand why they were letting old enemies help them. If someone had tried to kill him he would never agree to forgive them for trying to do so. While Kunemon worked at spitting out threads to tie the logs, Impmon headed out into the woods to think.

"What is with that Richard guy anyway. He just pops out of nowhere, Digivolves and helps fight Duskmon, and then thinks he knows everything. And then whenever I try to make him see reason Veemon and Salamon take his side. Sometimes I just wished that he would just go back to his world, and take them with him. Then I'll be able to save the Digital World the right way."

Impmon leaned against a tree, huffing. His temper was at an all time high, so he really didn't mean what he said. However, he was to angry at the moment to think that. As he sat he heard a rustling in the trees. Sitting up, he prepared a fire to attack with.

"Ha, ha, ha. Calm down there little fellow. I'm not here to hurt you, I want to help you."

Impmon watched as a Digimon appeared from a tree. The Digimon looked skeletal though the bones were a reddish color instead of white. In the center was a dark core protected by his ribs with a bat-shaped bone in the center. He was wearing black leather pants with two belts, and from his knees down metal boots protected him. His arms from the elbow down were just the same. His head had a bat-shaped helmet with a red bat in the center. He had two bat-like wings, and in his hand was a staff with a yellow orb in it.

"Who are you, and what do you mean you'll help me?"

"Why, I am Skull Satamon. I've been watching you and your friends for awhile, and I have to say I agree with you. That Gazimon has been a horrible leader and hogging your friends. You should be the leader, no doubt about that. But still, sending them away to the human world? That is a very horrible request. Then again, I think they deserve it."

"You, you really think so?" Impmon replied. Having someone agree with him was inflating Impmon's ego, and he was starting to get the idea that he should in fact be leading the revolt against the Demon Lords.

"Oh, there is no doubt about it. In fact, I think I will help you out Impmon. You just go back to your friends for a little longer, and then I'll make sure that they never get in your way again."

"Uh, thanks, I really mean it. Now they'll see that I was right all along. Once they are gone I'll be leader for sure." Impmon headed back to the coast, emboldened by Skull Satamon's help.

"Such an ambitious little Digimon. So easy to manipulate, it warms me undead heart. Barbamon will be very pleased with this development." Skull Satamon flew off to prepare for his upcoming role.

Meanwhile, Impmon had arrived back at the coast to find that the raft was finished. It was a moderate sized one, and even had a mast with a sail on it.

"There you are Impmon. As you can see the raft is done, and the Bakemon and Kunemon were about to see us off. Ready to go?" Richard said.

Impmon nodded as he climbed aboard. He looked around, but Skull Satamon wasn't in sight. Then again, something like opening a doorway to the Real World would take some time. He was going to try to stall, but with a lurch and a splash they were off. As the sail caught the wind they began picking up speed, and soon File Island was beginning to disappear over the horizon.

_Where is Skull Satamon? If he is really going to do this he needs to._

"Well, well. What do we have here? Four little Digimon out for a three hour cruise? Well, I'm sorry to say that this is the end of your journey."

The four Digimon looked up upon the figure of Skull Satamon. He winked at Impmon, who realized what he was doing. It was just acting, trying to make it look like just a random attack, not some dastardly plot.

"Yeah right, and who are you freakshow?" Veemon said. They all started glowing, but were interrupted by a wave. They tried again, but another wave stopped them. The sky was beginning to darken as Skull Satamon aimed his staff at the ocean. One blast from his staff and a whirlpool began forming. The raft was caught, and as the sky began pouring rain and lightning Skull Satamon made his final goodbye.

"While I am a bit sorry to not have gotten the chance to fight you four, my master Barbamon shall be pleased with your utter destruction."

As the raft moved closer and closer to the center, Impmon finally realized what was happening. Skull Satamon wasn't helping him at all. Skull Satamon had just been working for Barbamon, and he had just used him. Impmon had just doomed them all


	10. Salamon's Pounding

Salamon's POV:

**Salamon's POV:**

After Skull Satamon's attack on the group they had all fallen down into the whirlpool. The swirling and swishing of the waters separated them all, and for what seemed like hours all Salamon could see was darkness. Of course, her eyes were closed from fright but she knew that if she opened them it wouldn't have mattered. Eventually, though, the motions stopped. Salamon, however, was too scared to move and instead laid on what felt like sand, shivering from the damp cold of the water as well as fright.

Eventually her fur dried, and she could feel the warmth of the afternoon sun on her side. It felt good, and in the soft sand she couldn't help but eventually fall fast asleep. Her little nap, however, was quickly interrupted by the sounds of barking. Salamon's eyes shot wide open, and she quickly stood up to see what was going on. What she saw amazed her.

Instead of the forests and fields of the File Island she knew and loved there were these tall, shiny, metallic buildings that reached far up into the sky. There were also a lot of smaller buildings to, some with many, many doors facing to the outside. The sounds of beeps, drills, chattering, and much more were very frightening to the poor Digimon. And of all the noises she heard the one of barking scared her the most.

Eventually she found the source of the noise. It was coming from a strange looking Digimon, one that she had never seen before. The Digimon was relatively large from Salamon's point of view, and it had very rough, tangled white fur. At that moment it was standing next to another strange Digimon behind some cart. This one was very tall, and had a really large stomach. There was no fur, claws, or any kind of protection at all. It was currently trying to push the dog away from what looked like sausages.

Looking around Salamon saw huge amount of other Digimon just like those two, though they all looked different from each other. Some were tossing around a little plate, others were tossing balls.

_This sure is some strange place in the Digital World. I hope the others are nearby because I don't want to be all alone here._

Salamon's thoughts were interrupted by an update in the two Digimon's situation. The small, furry one had gotten a hold on the sausages and was running away with them while the other one was yelling "Get back here you mangy mutt. Somebody get that dog."

"Wait, what's a dog? Maybe that other Digimon meant to say Dogmon or something. Hey, maybe one of them knows were the others are." Salamon said to herself

Emboldened by the chance to find her friends Salamon began chasing after the two Digimon. However, her little legs weren't able to keep up with them for long, so she called out to them.

"Hey, wait up a minute. I wanted to ask you something."

The tall, furless one stopped for a moment, looked for the cause of the voice, and saw Salamon. The other one kept running, but was soon caught by these two men who put him into a truck

"Oh, so the little mongrel over there as an accomplice, hey? Well guess what puppy your going with him to the pound. And maybe you'll get lucky and have some kid adopt you. Just stay away from me though."

And with that the Digimon tried to grab Salamon, but all she did was bite him on the hand. It grabbed the hand with the other and mumbled some words that she couldn't make out as she ran beneath its legs. She didn't have time to figure out what it meant by what it said, but as she ran she felt something prick her on the back. Before she got a good look at it her vision began to blur and she flopped out onto the ground. Just before her consciousness left her she heard someone say something about "Thanks for your help sir…"

By the time Salamon regained consciousness the scenery had drastically changed. Instead of the beach she was in a cage in a room filled with about a dozen other Dogmon, each one more different than the last. It was surprising how many variations there were of that Digimon. However, she was in a cage, and she didn't like that idea considering that last time she was in one a group of Bakemon were ready to beat her to a pulp.

"Salamon digivolve to … why isn't anything happening?"

Salamon had not felt the usual surge of energy that usually appeared before she Digivolved into Gatomon. Instead she felt, well, nothing. Since it was obvious that Digivolving was not an option the only thing left to do was think, especially what that one Digimon said.

"'And maybe you'll get lucky and have some kid adopt you.' What did it mean by that? There aren't any kids in the Digital World, so if kids can come to this pound to adopt me, then that must mean I'm not in the Digital World. I'm in the human world."

This revelation was a major one to Salamon. She had heard stories about the human world ever since she was a little In-Training. But there was a difference between a story and actually being there, a very big difference. There were feelings of fear and excitement at the same time; fear from the fact that she was lost in an unknown world and excitement of exploring this new world.

However, a second revelation soon quickly hit; Gazimon's story about being a human from the human world must be true somehow. If they could get here , then a human should be able to get to the Digital World. Why he was a Digimon she didn't know, but the fact that he wasn't really a Digimon depressed her. It meant that one day he would have to return to this place like all the kids before him had to.

At that thought depression set into Salamon's thoughts. She didn't want him to leave, she needed him and the other two. Without them she would just be the cowering, sniveling pup she was before she met them.

Just like now

Tears began to form in her eyes, the sadness erupting from the feelings of loneliness she was having. However, she stopped very quickly when she heard the noise of several humans (she had realized that the tall, furless Digimon must have been a human) coming in. There were two really tall boys, called men if the stories were true. With them was a little girl, again if the stories were true. She could hear the conversation between them.

"Daddy, daddy, can I look at the puppies?" The girl asked, grabbing the sleeve of one of them men. He nodded, and the girl playfully started looking at the creatures (if this was the human world, Salamon figured they weren't Digimon) in the cages.

The man who had nodded sighed before speaking with a smile on his face.

"Kids, sometimes they can be a bit of a pain, but then there are moments like this that your glad you have them. How much is it going to cost to adopt one?"

The other man started speaking.

"Well, currently we have a bit of an overflow in dogs. We can't really take anymore at the moment, and we're kind of desperate to get rid of them. You can have one for free."

Salamon couldn't hear the rest of the conversation because at that time the little girl had reached her cage. Salamon had been standing close to the gate, and so she had no time to escape from the girl's hold. However, instead of a pain-inflicting one it was a gentle one. In fact, the girl was petting Salamon.

"Ahhhhh, what a cute little puppy. Daddy, I want this one."

Salamon couldn't really hear that last part. The girl was petting her behind the ear, and Salamon was feeling so comfortable at that moment that her tail was wagging and she was ignorant of what was happening around her.

That was until the girl stopped, and Salamon was placed into a smaller cage that was carried outside and placed into some strange machine. The girl and her father got in as well; the father in the front and the girl in the back. Salamon was in the back as well, unable to see what was happening up front. However, the sound of the machine starting startled her and she began panicking.

"Awww, calm down puppy. It's just the car starting up. You're so cute when you're scared. I'm going to call you Rita!" The girl squealed

"My name is Salamon." Salamon whispered.

The girl's face distorted into one of shock and delight, and Salamon wanted to know what had happened.

"Daddy, daddy, the dog can talk. She said her name was Salamon!"

"That's nice dear. Maybe you can chat with her for a little while on the way home. I'm sure she makes a pleasant conversation." Only Salamon heard the next part "Ah, kids and their imagination."

"So wait, I'm not supposed to be talking, am I?" Salamon asked.

"Well you can talk. Most animals can't though. Oh, I must be the luckiest girl ever. I got a talking dog. It's going to be wonderful. We can chat and sing and…" The girl began rambling on and on about what they were going to do.

Salamon wasn't listening though. She didn't want to be somebody's pet. Instead she wanted to escape and find her friends. As the scenery flew by she began to lazily look out at it. All that was out there was back-to-back buildings, though as the continued these broke up into smaller buildings with some empty spaces between them.

"Gazimon!" She exclaimed. They had just driven by one building were she swore she saw what looked like her friend standing in a tree next to a window. Only the girl had heard this exclamation as the father was currently on a cellphone, letting his wife know they would be home soon.

"Who's Gazimon?" The girl asked, genuinely interested in what Salamon had said.

"He's a friend of mine. Him, me, and two other friends of mine named Veemon and Impmon were separated by this guy named Skull Satamon. I thought I just saw him. I really do miss them."

Salamon began tearing up a little again, and the girl reached inside the cage to try and hug her.

"Its alright Salamon, I'm sure you'll find them. Hey, maybe I can convince my daddy to let me help you find them. Then we can adopt them to and be one big happy family away from that mean old Skull Satamon…"

The girl started ranting again, but this time Salamon listened. She still didn't want to be a pet, but this girl seemed sincere in her want to help find the others. While it did sadden Salamon some that eventually they would have to explain to the girl why they couldn't live with her, at that moment Salamon was content with the way things were.

_Don't worry guys, I'm going to find you all soon. And then its back to the Digital World to beat that Skull Satamon down._


	11. Veemon's Amusement

**Author's Note:** Digimon and all related copyrights do not belong to me. And remember to comment, criticize, and review.

**Veemon's POV:**

As Skull Satamon's whirlpool enveloped him, Veemon had been forced to close his eyes, and for what felt like hours all he could see was total darkness. Eventually he felt the ceasing of the twisting and churning of the whirlpool, and the feeling of sand beneath let him know he was on land. Opening his eyes he slowly began to stand up, though as he did so he heard several gasps and murmurs.

"It's getting up." One whispered.

"What is that thing mommy?" A younger voice cried.

Everything turned silent when Veemon looked upon the group, and both sides were confused. Veemon had never seen such strange looking Digimon; no fur, scales, claws, machinery, or anything that a Digimon normally had. They were just skin and bones, so what Digimon were they?

_What a second, one of them said something about mommy? Didn't Gazimon mention something about a mom once? And if Gazimon used to human then these people must be human as well!_

"Hi there humans! My name is Veemon!" He said in an excited and cheerful tone. Much to his disappointment, however, this caused everyone else to scatter in a panicked run.

"But mommy, that's a Digimon!" He heard the younger voice cry again. Veemon stood there scratching his head, trying to figure out what was going on. If they knew of Digimon, why were they afraid of him? Thinking of no real reason he just shrugged and decided they were just being weird.

Still, he was in the human world on what looked like a beach. Nearby was something that really caught his eye though. It looked like an amusement park of some sorts, though much smaller than that one he had been to back in the Digital World. And by the way it looked, there was just more than a DemiDevimon in it; there was a pretty big crowd of humans around it.

"Hmm, I really should try to find the others, but when will I get the chance to visit a human amusement park? Besides, maybe the others are there? Yeah, in order to find the others I will have to ride every last one of those rides."

Without hesitation Veemon ran down from his spot on the beach towards the amusement park on the pier, occasionally running into another human who just fled from him. Still, that wasn't going to bother him right now; fun first, worry later. And what could be more fun than an amusement park?

Upon arriving to the entrance of the amusement park Veemon tried to make his way in. These metal bars were in his way though, and no matter what he did he couldn't get them to move.

"Why won't these things let me in?"

"Hey, you there, the kid in the little dinosaur costume. You need to buy a ticket first."

Turning around, Veemon saw a small booth with a sign that said "Tickets" right above it. Inside was another human, though apparently this one was running away from him. Veemon, however, had never heard of a ticket so he had to ask what they were.

"Well, it's this little piece of paper you pay for that lets you into the park. You buy the ticket, I press a button, and those metal bars move."

"Then could you just press the button and let me in then?" Veemon pleaded.

"I'm sorry kid, but I'm not allowed to do that. It's against the rules."

Seeing as that wasn't going to get him anywhere Veemon left the booth defeated. Looking over at the bars, he thought about just Vee-Headbutting them out of the way. That, however, would probably just get him in trouble, and he didn't want to get into trouble in this place without his friends nearby. Still, there had to be another way in.

It was then that Veemon noticed that the amusement park extended out over the ocean on a pier. There were several large posts that he could climb up on and get in that way. Seeing as the ticket guy was busy with another human, he quietly made his way down and over to one of these posts. With his claws he was able to easily climb up the posts, though it still took quite a bit of time and effort. Eventually he reached the top, and with one last heave he found himself in the amusement park.

"Awesome, I'm in. Now what to ride first?"

Looking around, the first thing that caught his eye was a smaller ride that consisted of several small cars in a circle around a central point. There was practically no line at it, and so Veemon made it his first choice of a ride. Once the bar came down and everyone was secure, the rid began. The next few minutes were filled with him being sent from one end of his car to the other as the cars were flung around in a circle. When it was all over Veemon's sides hurt pretty bad.

"Thank you and come again." The ride manager said as they all left.

"Yeah right." Veemon mumbled as he walked by.

With that ride taken care of Veemon looked for another one, his eyes finally setting on a roller coaster. Just like before the line was relatively small, so it didn't take long for him to get on (though he did have to deal with some comments about his 'costume'). The ride started with a small jerk, but they soon found themselves being brought to the top of a hill. Veemon's stomach twittered with excitement as the ride lurched forward and down, speeding up faster and faster until they hit a series of smaller hills. Once that was done they were brought into a turn before being brought back up on a hill. Instead of going down, the track ricocheted with left turns and right turns into complete successions. Veemon's sides were burning by this point, and he really hated the amusement park by the time the coaster came into the station.

_Really, is every ride here built to kill your sides?_ He thought as he rubbed the sore spots.

"Hey, someone get that kid in the dinosaur costume." Veemon heard someone yell.

Looking up, Veemon first wanted to correct them and tell them he was a dragon, but the sight of several large men in uniforms running towards him told him that was not the time to do so. Veemon started to make a run for it, but the people were still behind him. He needed somewhere to hide, so skipped the entire line for the haunted house and ran straight in.

Moving slowly through the dark building, Veemon felt he would be safe in here. It was dark, and it was haunted. Why would they go into a haunted house anyway? As he walked through it, he could see why. It wasn't a real haunted house; the ghosts were just sheets of cloth and machines, the graveyard scenery was fake, and so was just about every last one of the cheap scares in the building. By the time he found himself out of it he was wondering why they hadn't followed him in.

That question was quickly answered as he stepped into the sunlight. The uniformed people had decided to just wait for him at the exit.

"Alright kid, we need you to come with us." One of them said in a faked kind voice. Veemon, however, didn't comply. Instead, with a running start he jumped right over them, using the added height of the exit platform to his advantage. The chase continued on as Veemon ducked and weaved through the crowd.

His search for another hiding spot found him inside a fun house, and he found it a bit more realistic than the haunted house. The first hallway was all mirror, and admittedly he spent a minute or two playing around with as he saw himself stretched, flattened, and other various things. Sounds of angry people, however, made him get a move on. Making his way into the next room, he found the floor suddenly shift underneath his feet. Almost loosing his footing, he found that the floor was divided into pieces that were sliding back and forth. It didn't take long for Veemon to get across, though he stopped to laugh when he saw one of the people trip and fall down.

"I'm going to get you for that kid." He said, and the threat forced Veemon to keep on going. The next hall was a bunch of padded poles that stuck out from the ceiling and floor, which had the advantage of slowing down Veemon's pursuers as he made a run through it. He would need that extra distance, as the next hall's floor was made of mostly rollers that caused Veemon to slip and fall as he made his way across them.

He was starting to near the end of the fun house. Still, there were a few rooms left to go through before them. From the roller floor room he had to climb a step of stairs, which lead to a bridge completely made of rope. Treading carefully, he made his way across. About halfway over it, though, the people had caught up with him. There was only two of them this time, the rest had been defeated by the fun houses various floors. Another was brought down by the bridge since in the rush to get across his foot slipped into one of the holes.

By the time the other got across, Veemon was already on the slide down that led into the final room; a giant tunnel that was constantly going around and around. Compared to the rest of the fun house it was easy, and soon Veemon was back in the park. Seeing as the people were incompetent, Veemon was starting to have fun avoiding them, so when the person came out of the fun house Veemon actually taunted him to follow him. There was just one ride left that Veemon wanted to get on; the Ferris wheel.

Veemon had gotten there just in time to get his own little pod, so as he got himself comfortable he took the chance to see the view. From the Ferris wheel he could see much more of the place he had arrived in. It looked like a pretty big city, filled with tall buildings and many, many humans. He was intrigued, considering that this was the place Gazimon, or Richard, was from.

_It is an interesting place, and the people are quite friendly. But sadly Gazimon, I prefer the Digital World. It's not so crowded, though I wish it was just as friendly as your home world._

As Veemon contemplated this thought, and whether he should start calling Gazimon Richard instead, he felt a sudden jerk. Looking down, he saw that the uniformed people had started to empty out the ride in their search for him. They looked pretty angry, and Veemon didn't want to deal with them.

"Hey, I'll just Digivolve to Ex-Veemon and fly out of here." He exclaimed to himself.

"Veemon Digivolve to…uh oh." There was no surge of power, and Veemon realized he couldn't Digivolve to Ex-Veemon. And from that high up he couldn't just jump. He was trapped, or was he. Looking over he saw the top of the other pod, and the jump was just within his range. Getting a small start, he jumped out of his pod onto the top of that one, causing both of them to rock pretty badly. If it wasn't for his claws, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.

The next jump he had to make looked as if it would be onto the awning of a cart of some sort. He waited for the ride to lower down some before jumping, but just like before he landed just right. Still, he fell through the awning right into the cart, landing in a giant thing of mustard.

Grabbing a hotdog before he left, Veemon started making his way towards the exit. There was just one last jump to make, and that was the metal bars of the entrance. By this point though that was nothing, and so with last one jump he was officially out of the park. Apparently the uniformed people had given up the chance, seeing very clearly they weren't going to catch him.

"So, have fun in the park there little guy?" The ticket guy asked.

"You betcha. Greatest park ever!" Veemon said with a nod.

"Well, glad you like it. Sadly, you're banned from ever coming back in. That's what you get for sneaking in and causing such a mess."

Veemon just shrugged his shoulder, seeing as he probably wouldn't ever be able to get back in there anyway.

"Well, that's okay with me. Now if you excuse me, I got some friends I need to find." Veemon said as he headed towards the city.

"If you're looking for someone, I'd try the public park. Everyone ends up in the public park eventually." The ticket guy said.

"Thanks for the tip." Veemon said as he disappeared from sight. He was going to the park, and hopefully his friends would be too.


	12. Impmon's Conversation

**Author's Note:** I do not own any of the copyrights related to the Digimon franchise. Also, feel free to review, make comments, or offer suggestions.

**Impmon's POV:**

Impmon was the last of the group to be sucked in by the whirlpool created by Skull Satamon. Like all the others he had his eyes closed as he twirled further and further into the dark abyss, but once the turmoil stopped he quickly opened his eyes. He was still in the ocean, but shore was very close by. One quick swim later and he arrived on what looked like and abandoned beach. No Digimon was in sight, or any living thing for that matter.

There was, however, one thing that showed life must exists wherever he was; in the distance he could see a small city that looked like it was bustling. Right now, though, he didn't really want to go where others lived. Considering that he had just possibly sent the rest of his friends into a water grave it was understandable thing. Still, he couldn't just stand there on the beach by himself, so he walked up to the road and began heading towards the city.

"What have I done? Impmon, don't kid yourself, you know what you did. You let your anger get the best of you and got your friends killed. I should never have trusted that Skull Satamon. I should have known that he was working for the Demon Lords. The big scary-looking guys are always working for the villains. Doesn't matter now, though, does it? You're all alone, your friends killed; Gazimon, Veemon, Salamon. All of them gone, and its all my fault."

As Impmon finished off his little spiel his voice began getting a lot angrier sounding. He truly hated himself for what he had done, and it showed. His fists were curled, his tone spiteful, and it looked like he was about to breakdown. That, however, wasn't his style, and so he decided to cool himself off by throwing some small flames at random objects. The flames quickly went out after being shot off, so nothing caught on fire.

This only distracted him for a little bit, though, before he stopped. Looking up he found himself reached a sign that said "City Limits", and he saw the city was much closer than before. Still, he kept up with his slow, depressed rate of walking. That was until he heard someone start talking in a raspy voice

"Hey there little guy, what's go you down in the dumps?"

Impmon looked up only to find some weird, fleshy, Digimon that was standing on two legs. It looked similar to some Digimon he knew of like Angemon or, but this Digimon was definitely not Angemon. There was no wings or any sign of an angel, and the guy was wearing some kind of dark equipment over his eyes.

"None of you business whatever Digimon you are." Impmon replied with a gruff annoyance. The man just responded with a laugh.

"Quite the imagination you got there kid. I'm no Digimon, just you average human who happens to be a bit blind."

Impmon looked up when the man said that. He knew what humans were; he had heard the stories about humans in the past saving the Digital World, and he knew Gazimon used to be one. Still, it was a bit of a shocker to find out he was talking to one, and that also showed him that he was in the human world. Even weirder, the guy was blind (which probably explained why he thought Impmon was a kid.). Still, what was he supposed to do now? The guy was walking right beside him, and it didn't seem like he was going anywhere. About the only thing they could do was talk, something Impmon really didn't enjoy.

"So, uh, if your blind how did you know I was feeling angry at myself?"

"Well, didn't know you were angry, I just knew you were depressed. You see, I've had to learn to live without sight, and I've gotten pretty good at judging people's emotions by the way they walk and talk and other things. You've been dragging your feet for the last few minutes, and your reactions towards me asking you what was wrong helped me figure it out."

"Pretty impressive human. Still doesn't mean I'm going to tell you whats bugging me." Impmon responded with a huff. It was indeed impressive the man could tell so much without sight, but Impmon didn't really want to share his troubles.

"Okay there fellow, I understand. When things are tough and you've felt like you hit rock bottom you just want to be left alone."

"Thank you."

"But if you really want to help yourself you got to let it all out. It's not healthy to keep things all bottled up inside."

"Your not going to give up, are you?" Impmon asked, annoyance leaking into his tone, "Well then, I guess I'll tell you then. I got into a fight with my friends, and that lead me to do something stupid that could have gotten them all killed. There, you happy?"

The man didn't say anything in response, just walked there in silence. Impmon was starting to think the guy was too shocked to say anything or was deaf as well. Either way, Impmon thought it just showed there was no point talking about your problems; no one would listen anyway.

"Hmm, that is a mighty fine problem you have there. Can't say I've ever done anything that could kill my friends, but I think I can still help a little. You see, people are always making stupid mistakes when there angry, it's a fact of life. I'm sure your friends have made mistakes like that, and they'll understand your situation as well."

"Yeah, but my mistake might have killed them! How can I just talk to them if they are dead?"

Again, the man took a moment before he started speaking again.

"Hmm, well, I have a feeling your friends aren't going to be dead. I mean, if your still alive, why would your friends be dead? Besides, if your mistakes can get you killed, I think you and your friends must be pretty tough kids."

Impmon was going to try and make a comeback, but he found himself not able to think of one. The man did have a point; he was alive, and the others were pretty tough when push comes to shove. So there was a good they chance they survived. But still, where in the world could they be? Then again, if he was on the beach near this city, then maybe the others were there too?

The man just smiled as he senses a new spring in Impmon's step, which Impmon had yet to notice. Talking to this guy was helping a bit, but still, he wasn't to sure what to do now.

"Yeah, they are pretty tough Digimon, but I don't think I am. Every time I've fought I've gotten my butt kicked badly. I even failed to protect one of my friends. She's alright right now, but I don't get why they are so nonchalant about it."

"Now that is something I can understand. You feel like you've disappointed your friends just because you weren't some tough guy who could defend them. But it sounds like they aren't expecting you to be that kind of person. Maybe your just disappointed in yourself. Well, I only got one thing to say to that; don't be. You seem like a nice kid, and it sounds as if your friends really care for you. So what if you make a few mistakes or don't feel like you're up to par with them. Just try your best and I'm sure your friends will still be your friends in the good times and bad."

Impmon just listened quietly as the man talked. A lot of it made some sense to Impmon. Maybe he was just being to hard on himself. His friends never let him down had they? So it just seemed stupid to think they'd abandon him now. And it was just as stupid for him to abandon them too.

"You know, I think I know what I need to do now. I need to find my friends and let them know what I've done and why. After that, find that Skull Satamon and beat him down so bad he wished his Digitama never hatched. Thanks for the help mister."

Impmon's voice had a renewed sense of determination to it, and instead of curling his fists in anger he was doing it in a physical sign of his steadfastness. He was about to run off when the man placed his hand on his head and started speaking.

"Glad I could help you. As for your friends, I'd suggest the park. Lots of people end up there during the day, and if they aren't there I'm sure you can hear about them. By the way," he had a bit of a smirk on his face as he talked, "I'd suggest you privately reconcile yourself with that lady friend of yours."

Impmon just let out a grumbled "Fine" before he ran into the heart of the city. He was going to find his friends and apologize for having Skull Satamon attack them if it was the last thing he ever did.


	13. Gazimon's Homecoming

**Author's Note:** This will sadly be the second-to-last chapter for this story. I've been recently under a creative pressure/writer's block/stress that has caused me to have a massive drain on my creativity. Also, I've been really bad at procrastinating lately, and add in schoolwork I just can't continue making ideas for this. However, do not fret. I will have this end with a cliffhanger that will allow for me to continue with this should I be able to do so. Also, I have plans in the making for a fanfic (non-Digimon) that I want to try out once the stress has gone down some.

Oh, and Digimon does not belong to me in anyway, shape, or form. If it did, then this would be the next season of it and I'd be in a season with a DemiDevimon as my partner :).

**Richard's POV:**

My trip down the whirlpool was one of the more pleasant ones, or at least I hoped it was. I had closed his eyes and mouth very early into the trip, and so I never had to suffer through too much. Eventually, however, my lungs felt like they were on fire, and I was forced to take a breath. I was surprised to find, however, that I was breathing air instead of drowning on seawater. Furthermore, there was an unusual feeling of sand underneath me.

Getting up, I found myself on a beach, but upon further inspection of my surroundings I found I wasn't on just any beach.

"This, this, this is the beach near where I live!" I said, my voice partially choking in surprise.

Seeing my hometown caused me to quickly stand up and start running towards it, but within a minute I had realized that I was running on all fours. I was still a Gazimon, wet fur and all. Apparently returning to the real world wasn't enough for me to return to normal. Still, I was home once again, and I should try and enjoy it as much as possible…except that I wasn't sure how to. With me still being a Gazimon I clearly couldn't go home, or could I?

Of course, that thought just brought on a whole lot of other ones. How would my family react to me being gone so long, only to turn up as some, well, monster. Would they even believe me if I told them who I was?

_Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to go home._

Heading up the beach I eventually found myself near the pier and amusement park, and so I knew that my house wasn't too far away. It was within walking distance at least, though normally I'd ride a bus.

_Not like that's an option right now._

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I quickly ran across the street that separated the beach from the rest of the city. There was a nearby alleyway; the perfect way to travel if one didn't want to be seen (or the sewers, but I'm not that desperate). It was trashed and filled with litter, but unless some hobo lived there no one was around. I silently made my way down it, only to be hit with a dead end. There was a wall right in front of me and off to one side, and a large fence in the way on the other.

"Great, now how do I get to my house without being seen. There's no later, so I can't get up the side of the building, and there's no way I can jump over that fence. I mean, it's not like I can just dig..under..neath"

I looked down at my two paws, specifically the large claws that extended from them. It seemed that I had forgotten about them and their ability to help me dig. With that sudden realization I began to dig like a dog until I could easily squeeze underneath the fence. I soon found myself in another alley, and so I started once again making my way back home.

Eventually I found myself not at home, but instead at my school. I knew I must have made a wrong turn somewhere, but I decided I'd take a quick peek anyway and see what had happened during my disappearance. After once again making sure no one was looking I made my way to the school entrance, though for some reason the door was locked. Luckily the doors were glass, so I could see inside anyway. Looking inside I found the halls…empty?

"Where is everybody? If I left on a Saturday, and adding in how long I've been gone, it should be at least a week and a few days since I left. There should at least a few people walking around."

Perplexed by the emptiness of the school, I decided to try and think about it on my way home. Remembering the back roads and alleys near the school, I took advantage of them to make my way to my home. Within a few minutes I was finding myself in familiar territory as the city began to melt away and suburban neighborhoods began to appear.

With one last turn I found myself in the backyard of my house. It didn't take much for me to get into my yard considering our fence was short, but once inside I couldn't really move. Even though it had been only a relatively short amount of time, it was still a momentous occasion for me actually be home. The thoughts of me being a Gazimon still reappeared, but I knew that I had to go in there.

I slowly opened the back door, poking my head inside cautiously. I didn't see anyone there, so I calmly called out.

"Mom? Dad? It's me, Richard. If you're home I think you need to sit down. I got a lot of explaining to do."

I had expected them to just rush towards the door in a loving, excited run, but instead all I got was silence. Walking inside the house all the way, I started trying to find out where everyone was. The kitchen was empty, and so was the living room. Starting to panic, thinking somehow that Skull Satamon had gotten them, I started going through every square inch of that house.

Soon I had exhausted ever last room in the house; my room. The irony of that situation did cross through my mind, but I really didn't care. I just wanted to find my parents or at least a sign of them. Pushing the door open, I was greeted with a surprise. The room was _exactly_ the same as when I first left. The chair was knocked over, claw marks on the desk, even the letter from Azulongmon was on the screen.

"Okay, either my parents became very creep during my disappearance and don't want anything moved, or I wasn't gone for as long as I thought."

I decided to confirm my suspicion by taking a look at the date on the computer. It was the same exact day as when I left. The only difference was that a few hours had passed, but the thing was it was the same amount of time I had been back in the real world.

"So, wait, I haven't been gone at all in the real world? Man, that's a major relief. At least I don't have to worry about my parents being concerned about my disappearance. Thank goodness they went out of town for the weekend."

Relieved that my time in the Digital World wasn't going to affect my time here, it was time for me to get on with the next task; how was I to get back. Sure, it sounded crazy to want to get back after spending all that time trying to get home, but I felt like I had to. The others had been counting on me to help them beat the Demon Lords, and obviously that job wasn't done.

"But what if they didn't survive the whirlpool? What if I'm the only survivor? There's no way I can save the Digital World on my own. Heck, without Veemon's help I probably wouldn't have survived my first day there. And then there's Impmon, who even with all that troublemaking was a loyal friend. And Salamon has always been a cheerful Digimon to have around."

I had a lot of thinking I needed to do, and I always thought best if I was sitting in my computer chair. Propping up the chair I plopped down on it, and rested my head on my paw. I took another look at the screen and reread the message from Azulongmon.

"Hmm, Azulongmon always was good at being mysterious. Now would be a good time for him to give me some advice. Not like that's going to happen."

Remembering I still had the Digivice, I started to press some of the buttons to see if I got a reaction. Other than some information on my Rookie and Champion forms I got nothing. The entire situation was starting to look much more difficult than I thought. There had to be some way for me to…

"You got mail." The computer blared, scaring me half to death.

"Great, who would be sending a message to me…I'm not on the ball today am I?"

Opening the message, I smiled a bit when I saw who it was from; Azulongmon.

_Dear Richard:_

_I knew that you would be able to help with the fight against the Demon Lords. With Duskmon gone File Island should begin to return to normal, and Primary Village will be rebuilt soon. _

_But there will be more challenges ahead. Before Skull Satamon's attack you were heading to Server. While its true that the rest of your adventure is there, it is a very dangerous place. You will need all your friends to help you. _

_Sadly, it seems that Skull Satamon was able to send you back to the real world, something I did fear. However, it seems that the rest of your friends are there as well, and they are alive trying to reach some park. And so I will try to use some of my power to reopen a portal to the Digital World within this park. It will not last long though. You must enter it as soon as possible or else you may never return to the Digital World or become human again. Good luck._

_Azulongmon._

"Why does it always have to be something like that?" I thought as I read the last part of the message.

I really didn't like the idea of having to rush to the park and return to the Digital World. I had wanted to at least wait till my parents got home so I could explain it all and get some sort of comforting words of inspiration from them. However, I did have a duty to do, and I knew Azulongmon was taking a major risk by having this portal created. Even if I didn't like the idea, I had to do it.

"Well Azulongmon, it seems you got your way again. Digital World, here I come."

With that I jumped out of my chair, but before leaving my room I cleaned up the mess I had made when I first left. With that I headed back to the back door, and with one last look at home I headed out.

_Don't worry yourself Richard, you'll be home soon enough. All you got to do is defeat a couple of super powerful Digimon with the help of your friends…this is going to be a long trip._


	14. Reunited With Friends

**Author's Note:** Digimon and all of it's related copyrights do not belong to me, only their respective owners. But if I did, oh if I did, then lets say Myotismon wouldn't have lost evil grin

* * *

**Salamon's POV:**

"Daddy, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" The girl said with a bit of a sorrowful cry.

"No honey, not now. We aren't going to the park." Her father said as he tried to work on his, well, work.

It had been several hours since Salamon had been adopted, and the girl had agreed to help Salamon in her search for her friends. Her father, however, was beginning to be in the way. He had a lot of 'work' to do, and so he couldn't take her to the park. There was an advantage the girl and Salamon had that no father could resist for too long; the cute factor. Seeing as working alone wasn't doing it the girl had grabbed ahold of Salamon, showing her off to her dad. Salamon chipped in with a pout and whine to help sell the act.

"But daddy, Salamon really wants to go to the park. Look how unhappy she is."

Her father sighed, and took a moment before he spoke.

"All right, fine. You win. I guess I'll just take my work with me to the park. Go get her collar on while I get ready."

The girl yelped with joy as she ran off to get Salamon's collar. Salamon, meanwhile, was busy holding on for dear life as they flew through the house. Eventually Salamon had her pink collar and leash on as the father came in with the key's and briefcase.

"Alright then, let's get a move on dear."

The three of them headed out into the car; the father up front driving and the girl and Salamon in the back. As the cars started up, Salamon decided to try and come up with a plan on finding the others.

"Okay, so once we are at the park we can look around and see if any of my friends around there, right?" Salamon whispered.

The girl nodded a yes.

"And once we find them we'll bring them all home and be friends forever." The girl said with a twinkle in her eye.

Seeing that made Salamon feel so guilty. Once her friends were found she would have to abandon this girl as they searched for a way back to the Digital World. But she seemed so excited about having all these new friends, how could she tell her that. Then again, putting it off till the last minute would probably devastate her even more. It was such a hard decision, and the stress revealed itself as Salamon curled up on the seat in frustration.

"Is something wrong Salamon?" The girl asked with worry. Salamon looked up and consoled her with a no. The girl accepted it at face value, though Salamon remained concerned as they drove into the parking lot o the park.

**Veemon's POV:**

After his little escapade in the amusement park Veemon had wandered around the city as he tried to find his way to the park. There were a few small incidents along the way that resulted in him being chased (in his defense though those hotdogs were so tempting), but overall there wasn't of anything of interest that happened. He soon arrived in the park, unharmed and ready to find his friends.

"Hey, what's that over there!" Veemon said as he noticed a small area with a variety of equipment. There were several human kids playing on them, and so he decided he would join in the fun. The first thing he went to was what looked like a piece of wood and two sets of chains on a pole. A kid was going back and forth on it, and so Veemon stood over on the side looking on curiously. The kid eventually noticed him, but for some reason he dug his foot into the ground to stop himself. The two of them stared down each other, each with a curious look on there face. That was until Veemon spoke.

"Hi there. My name's Veemon." He said with a smile. The kid apparently wasn't used to talking animals as he soon quickly jumped off the wood plank and started running away and saying something about his 'mommy'.

"Okay then, see you later then?" Veemon said confused.

Whatever had happened left the plank open, and so Veemon got on. Pushing on the ground like the kid did he soon found himself going higher and higher until finally he couldn't any higher. It was a rush, but more importantly it actually helped him. With that extra height he could get a good view of the park, to a degree. Sadly it didn't help as he couldn't see any of the others (though there was something that looked similar to Salamon). Eventually it got boring on the wood, and so he dug his feet into the ground to stop himself.

"So now what should I do…hey, that looks like a good idea." He said as he spied a large, metal thing with a latter and a sloped piece of metal. Climbing to the top of it he got an even better view of the park, but still no sign of the others. Sitting down to think about what to do next, he soon found himself moving.

"Hey, whats going on here? Somebody heeeeeelp." Veemon yelled as he started to slide down the slope. It was, however, done before he even really finished yelling. Getting up off the ground he found he was back on the ground.

"I'm not really liking this thing. One moment you're sitting and the next you're on the ground. Besides, I must get back to finding the others. I will not be distracted!"

Determining to not get distracted again Veemon left the area so as to better resist the temptation. Walking through the park he glanced over the park again and again to find the other's but found no relief. As he did, however, he failed to notice the people around him and soon found himself bumping into a man who was carrying some cone with something in it. Part of what he was carrying fell onto his nose. Veemon looked at it as the man talked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. I didn't mean to ruin your costume. Um, ice cream stains can be washed out of it, right?" The man said in a rush.

Veemon, however, quickly answered that question as he sucked in the 'ice cream'. The taste was nothing he had ever had before; it was sweet, cold, and creamy and was beyond greatness. As it melted in his mouth he gained a new twinkle in his eye, and soon that twinkle was directed at the rest of what the guy had.

"Sir, can I have the rest of that 'ice cream' stuff?" Veemon asked.

"Wait, what? Kid, isn't your mother or father around here? I'm sure they can get you one." The man said as he started to move away. Veemon stood confused, once again, but sad as well that he couldn't get anymore ice cream.

"Oh well, guess I'll just have to go find the others whether I can get ice cream or not."

**Impmon's POV:**

After the pep talk with the man on the way to the city Impmon had inspired himself with a new load of confidence. He was determined to find his friends and correct the wrong he had done to them. As time went on, however, he started to fall into some doubt again. Sure, he didn't think they had died, but would they really forgive him for what he did?

_Impmon, you got to stop doubting yourself like this. They are your friends. You've fought with them, eaten with then, lived them basically. But how did you repay them? Betraying them in a fit of rage._

Seeing as thinking wasn't helping him Impmon started to mindlessly hit a nearby tree. Eventually he got tired of it (and his fist hurt as well), so he jumped onto a branch and decided to try thinking again. Besides, from up there he could get a good view of the park.

_Okay, let's think of the pros and cons here. Pro; they are your friends and friends forgive friends. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone gets angry. Con; You almost killed them and betrayed them to our enemies because of a little jealousy._

It was the almost killing them part that kept making him doubt himself. He personally wouldn't forgive someone for that, so he couldn't see how the others could. Then again, the rest of them were much different. Veemon was adventurous and fun loving, Salamon was innocent and caring, and Gazimon was pretty sensible at times (if a bit dramatic as well).

"Man things were easier when I was on my own without friends to worry about."

Even with statement, though, Impmon knew that his life was better with them than without them. That was probably why he was so stressed out over all of this. Looking over at the park lazily, he jumped up when he spotted a small dog and a blue dinosaur-dragon thing.

"So, they are here afterall. I should wait for Gazimon to get here before I do anything though. If I'm going to tell them about what happened I want them all to be here."

**Richard's POV:**

Returning home was both a good and bad thing for me. While I was relieved to find my absence wasn't affecting my family at all, at the same time it made me not really want to leave. Here I was safe and sound; no Demon Lords or evil Digimon trying to blast me to data bits. Then again, here I was still a Gazimon, and if that e-mail was right it would stay that way unless I beat the Demon Lords. Deep down I knew I had to go, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

On the flip side, I knew once I found the rest of the gang I would be able to get some more relief. Knowing that they were safe would really help me out as well as serve as a constant reminder of my duties should I start to second guess myself. And on that note I arrived in the park, and I was ready to get to work.

"Salamon, Veemon, Impmon? Are guy's around here? It's me, Gazimon."

I knew that yelling that out in the park was probably not a smart thing to do, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to find them, and apparently it worked. A little ways off I could see a small dog perk up, and the girl holding her leash looking my direction. Within the next few minutes Salamon and I were back together.

"Salamon, I'm so glad to see you. I was getting so worried about you all getting hurt." I said I hugged in a rushed feeling of relief.

"Glad your safe too Gazimon, but do you think you could stop crushing me please?" She said, and I quickly replied. If wasn't for my fur you could have seen me blushing.

"Uh, sorry about that. I was just so excited about finding you…" It was then that I remembered that there was that girl as well.

"So, uh, has Salamon explained this situation to you already or…."

"Yep, Salamon explained to me everything. You and you're friends were separated, but now you are getting all together again. And then we are going to live at my house…"

"Wait it a minute, living at your house? Salamon, I think you need to explain to her a little bit more."

The girl looked confused as Salamon just looked down at the ground. I gave her a quick nudge before she started talking, rather sadly might I add.

"We can't stay at your home. We have to go back to that world and help save it from Digimon like Skull Satamon. I'm sorry I made you think we could stay with you."

I could tell that the little girl felt crushed, and it did hurt me a little to see here like that. Still, it had to be done; we had a job to do. The girl just stood there, and she was tearing up, but eventually she got a statement out.

"Well then, I guess I better help you out then. But are you sure you can't stay with me?"

Salamon and I both shook our heads 'no.' Soon the three of us were spread out among the park looking for Veemon and Impmon. Impmon was nowhere in sight, but it didn't take long before Veemon could be found. He was standing near an ice-cream cart, and it looked like he as begging the owner for ice-cream.

"Please, please can I have some? I'll be your best friend." He pleaded. I came up from behind and grabbed him from behind, dragging him off.

"Hey, what's the big idea…Gazimon!"

Once Veemon saw it was me it was time for another round of hugging. He soon started into a spiel about all the fun he had in the real world and amusement parks and ice cream. It took several minutes before we could calm him down long enough to ask him if he had seen Impmon anywhere.

"No, I haven't seen him anywhere at all. I've been doing some, uh, investigating."

I gave him a blank stare as Salamon caught up with me. Veemon and her gave the similar "I missed you" exchange before we tried to think of what to do next.

"Really, all that's left is to find Impmon. But that guy can hide pretty good if he wanted to." Veemon said.

"Well, we better find him quick. I got a message from Azulongmon, and he said he would be opening a portal back to the Digital World right here in this park. If Impmon's not here when it opens he might not get back to the Digital World."

The other two were pretty silent, though around this time the girl and what must have been her father had arrived on the scene.

"See daddy, I told you they could talk. See, see!"

The dad look as if he was a deer caught in a headlight. It seemed that he was having more trouble believing in it than his daughter, but it was hard not to when a dog, a dinosaur/dragon, and whatever thing I was were standing there talking.

"But, how, why? I can't believe it. It wasn't just my daughter's imagination? Then that means you will have to leave Salamon?" He asked.

"Yep, I'm real sorry about that. It was fun being your 'pet', but I have a duty to my friend's and the Digital World. But if I ever come back here, or you go there, we'll make sure to stop by and say hi."

"Ahhhh, how touching. It would make heart break if it wasn't, you know, already broken." A very familiar and creepy voice said. Veemon, Salamon, and I all knew who it was; Skull Satamon.

"Skull Satamon, what are you doing here?" I yelled. I didn't like him in the Digital World, and I didn't like him here. Salamon and Veemon were in a similar mood as they were all prepped up and ready to fight.

"Uh, honey, I think we need to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but I know a fight when I see one." The father said as he rushed his daughter away from the scene. Skull Satamon looked as if he was going to do something, but it seemed they weren't worth his trouble.

"Simple; to finish what I started. I got news that Azulongmon was going to open a portal, and so I decided to just kill you all before that happens. And since there isn't a Primary Village in this world you'll stay dead. Now then, let's get this over with. Bone Blaster."

A massive blast of lightning shot out of his staff, though we all were able to get out of the way. Anyone who was in the park at that point was making a run for it, but that wasn't an option for us. Instead we all Digivolved into our champion forms; soon Salamon was Gatomon, Veemon was V-dramon, and I was Sangloupmon.

"Sticker Blade" I yelled as I sent hundreds of blades towards Skull Satamon. Sadly all he did was twirl his staff and he effectively blocked them all.

"V-Arrow" V-dramon exclaimed as he sent a blast of energy at him, though he just quickly dodged it was he came up from behind.

"Skull Hammer." Skull Satamon announced as he smashed his staff into V-dramon's head. V-dramon was downed pretty quickly, though Gatomon got a shot of Lightning Paw in before Skull Satamon could react. He was back and up before we knew it, however.

"Ah, the little kitty has claws. Well, I got something better. Bone Crusher."

Another blast of lightning shot out, but this time Gatomon couldn't escape it time. Soon she was down as well, paralyzed from the strike. I stood my ground, but by the way it looked I wasn't going to last to long.

"Thunder Ball." A ball of lightning appeared from the trees, to the surprise of both Skull Satamon and I. It shot the staff out of his hands, though it didn't take long for him to pick it up.

"Well well, who do we have here? If my memory serves your that Impmon, except with a bit of an upgrade. Much better than that time I met you in the woods."

I was confused as to what he was talking about, but it looked as if Impmon (or Wizardmon now) was going to explain it.

"That was a mistake. I was angry and jealous and I made the stupid decision of trusting you. Look," his attention was on us instead of Skull Satamon, "I had made a deal with Skull Satamon to get rid of you all, but I only did it because I was angry and jealous. But once I actually saw him coming after us I felt guilty and realized I was being an idiot. I'm sorry I almost got us killed, but I'm not going to let you all down again. You're my friends and that's final."

The Digivice on my front leg started to glow, and soon a bright light enveloped Wizardmon. And soon as it was gone, so was Wizardmon. Instead there was a much taller wizard in his place. He was much more regal than Wizardmon with his white armor with intricate designs. There were purple coverings and a purple cape as well, and underneath it all was a red clothing. There was a massive purple hat as well, but the most important thing was that big, flaming sword of his. Looking down at my Digivice it read out "Mystimon-Ultimate Level"

"Wizardmon just Digivolved…" I said with a surprise.

Mystimon, however, didn't seem to care much about his new level. Instead, he was focused completely on Skull Satamon, his sword at the ready.

"Skull Satamon, you are going to pay for what you have done to my friends and I. Blast Fire!"

A massive flame was sent towards Skull Satamon, who even with his speed was unable to dodge it. Soon his data began to burn away, and soon the undead Digimon was no more. Mystimon stopped the flames, and instead turned his attention back to us. With a wave of his hand a portal appeared in the ground before he reverted back to Impmon. The rest of us converted to Rookie as well before meeting up in front of the portal.

"Impmon, that was, well, awesome," was the general statement we all made. We had almost completely ignored the part about his betraying us, but we decided to confront it there and now.

"Impmon." I said, though I could see that he was outright depressed

"We heard what you said, I have one thing to say about what you did; don't worry about it. We're all friends, and we are willing to forgive you. Besides, you just paid us back by saving us from Skull Satamon so it's even anyways."

It looked as if what I said cheered him up, but soon Salamon and Veemon were trying to console him as well. Soon he was pushing them back as he tried to speak.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You all forgive me, we're friends, etc. I can't believe that you accepted me so easily. I mean, I almost killed you…

"Shut up about that Impmon." Veemon said, "It doesn't matter now. You just saved us from getting killed by him. We are even. Now then, more importantly, how did you make that portal?"

I had been thinking that too, though I was a bit anxious to get in.

"I didn't actually do it. When I was hit by that light from that device Gazimon had I felt as if there was someone else inside me directing me. He was the one who did it, not me. I did eliminate Skull Satamon though."

"Azulongmon, is there anything you can't do." I said out loud, "I think he was the one that did that. He did say he would open a portal. Guess he just decided to do it through you. Now then, let's get a move on people. We got a world to save."

"Right" The other three said.

The four of us stood over the edge of the portal, and together we jumped in. No matter what dangers awaited us on Server I knew that with my friends by my side we'd get through them all.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yes, it's amazing, I have one at the end. But there is a reason for this; this is the last chapter of this series. I've been under quite a bit of creative pressure that has caused me to pretty much burn out on this fanfic. I've been very bad at procrastinating on it and the last view chapters I don't think were very good (though I hope this one makes up for that). So instead of forcing myself to right half-hearted chapters I have instead opted to end it on a cliffhanger of sorts and take a break from it. But don't fret my readers I have plans to one day bring this back. I also have plans for fanfics outside of Digimon that I hope to start work on in the near future.


	15. Amnesia and Abominations

**Author's Note:** Yes, that's right, we're back in action now. Recent events have given me the want to get this story up and running again after all these years. And considering during that time I've done a lot of roleplaying stuff, well, hopefully the writing is better XD. The chapters will probably be longer at least. So then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the Adventure's of Richard (and possibly submit better names for this).

**

* * *

**

**Veemon's POV**

_Oooh, my head hurts..._

Groaning, I began to sit up as I rubbed my head. I didn't think that trips through inter-dimensional portals would have hurt so bad, but I was having a massive headache. As my hand moved around my head, however, I discovered a rather sore spot that I assumed must have been bruised. Opening my eyes, I scanned over the surrounding area to see just where it was that everyone else had ended up. It looked like a forest of sorts, but there was a salty, moist feeling in the air that was a sign that an ocean or something must have been nearby. In fact, I could see some sand right on the horizon. More importantly, however, Ihe found the cause of my headache; a rock.

"Great, I must have hit my head on it after we fell through that portal," I complained as I got up. My entire body was sore, but I had to find out just where the others were at.

I stretched for a second, hoping to soothe some of the soreness, and then headed over to one of the trees. Hopefully,I could use the height to get a better view of the forest so I could simply spot my friends instead of possibly searching for hours. It was a bit difficult due to my sore body, but I fought on; what was soreness compared to trying and find your friends. It took a moment or two, but I reached a branch and, after testing it to make sure it was steady, I took a spot on it. My view was better than on the ground, and within seconds I spotted a familiar shade of purple in a bush; Impmon. A little ways off there was the small, puppy-like form of Salamon curled up next to a rock, and in the tree above that was our good friend Richard, the human turned into a Gazimon.

"Whew, was worried for a moment, but it looks like they're all right," I said with a sigh of relief.

Jumping off the branch, I rushed over to the sporadic gathering of my friends, reaching Impmon first. He was a bit banged up, but nothing a nap and a meal wouldn't fix (that sounded good right about now actually). For now, however, I had to get the imp Digimon up and awake so they could have a talk with the others. Grabbing a hold of him, I shook him a little, and in a few seconds he began to awake,

"Uh, what in the world happened?" Impmon moaned as he began to stand on his own two feet.

"You're probably just sore from the trip through the portal. Come on, we got to get Salamon and Gazimon up as well."

Impmon followed alongside me without complaint as he was too sore to do so (no complaining from him, that was new). We headed over to Salamon, and within a moment she began to open up her own eyes. With a small yawn she began to stand up, looking up at us in the process. She looked confused for a moment, however, and tilted her head (she always did that for some odd reason).

"Where's Gazimon?" she asked, a rather obvious question coming from her. She always seemed to care more about us than herself.

"Right over there," I said, pointing towards the tree that Richard was in. All of us headed over to the tree and gathered around the base.

"Hey Gazimon, wake up! We're back in the Digital World!" I shouted out, eager to get my friend up and about. We all watched as he shifted a bit before sitting up. He looked down at us all, tilting his head as if he was confused about something (I think he spent too much time with Salamon). When he didn't respond, I started to get worried.

"Hey Gazimon, you feeling all right?" I asked.

"Yeah, what's it to you though? Who are you anyway, and what do you mean 'back in the Digital World? Did I ever leave it?" Richard responded.

I was about to say something, but Impmon responded first.

"All right, cut it out Richard. You know what we're talking about. SkullSatamon sent us to your world, and then Azulongmon helped us get back here."

"Who's Richard?" the Gazimon replied with full sincerity, leaving the rest of us to look and feel absolutely worried. The only response we got from him? A rather snide and annoyed;

"What, you all look like you saw a Bakemon or something. Why don't you speak up a bit, huh?"

**"Richard's" POV**

_iI wonder what they are all talking about over there? It's been awhile./i_ I wondered as I sat by the tree.

Ever since I told the others that I haven't ever heard of this 'Richard' person that they had been talking about, they had been huddled over in a small group a few feet away. I have no clue what the big deal is though; I simply never heard of anybody named Richard. For a moment I almost believed in their claims I had 'amnesia', but then they came up with some crazy story about me being a human turned Digimon. Yeah right, like something like that could happen. Still, they were rather persistent with the claim, so eventually I told them to knock it off and let me be.

Now, outside of that ridiculous claim, I could understand the rest of what they told me. Apparently I had been helping them fight against the Demon Lords and his armies that were currently attacking the Digital World. In fact, it seems I had sort of become the 'leader' of the group. That sounded rather nice, and from what it sounded like I had been pretty strong, being able to go Champion level and all that. Apparently all of them could, and that Impmon could even go Ultimate level it seems. Hmm, that was weird. Wouldn't you think that since I was the leader I would go Ultimate first? Anyway, that wasn't really important; it just meant I was going to have my dues given in the near future.

For now, however, I had to deal with this whole 'Richard' thing. I already convinced them all to call me Gazimon since ,well, that was what I was. Apparently they used to call me that anyway, so it didn't seem that big of a deal. Of course, if I was this 'Richard' person, making them call me Gazimon because I was a Digimon would probably freak them all out. However, I wasn't Richard the Human, I was Gazimon the Digimon, born and raised in the Digital World.

**Salamon's POV**

"What are we going to do about Richard guys? He doesn't seem to remember anything about being human anymore? He thinks he's always been a Digimon..." I said, looking over at my human-turned-Digimon friend, who was currently scratching at his head with his back paw.

This situation couldn't have been any stranger. Somehow during the return trip from his world, the Real World, Richard had lost his human memory, and now thought himself a full fledged Digimon. We tried to reason with him, telling him stories about our fight against the Demon Lords in hope of restoring his memory. He believed every word of it, and it even jogged some of his memory to the point he knew we were his friends, but he simply refused to believe he was a human. It had us all worried; there had to be some reason a human was turned into a Digimon and brought here instead of the human-Digimon partnership that had occurred in the past. Losing that human side to him might have lost something vital to our goal.

Of course, that wasn't the only concern we had. Richard's personality seem to have had shifted as well, becoming a strange mix of his old self (smart and cautious) with some of, oddly enough, Impmon's side (a little rash and confrontational). The old Richard would never had greeted somebody as roughly as he did to us earlier (well, maybe a minion of Daemon's or something, but that was obvious). He always acted so kind before, if maybe a little awkward at times. At least, he was always nice to me. I still remember the first time I met him, when he Digivolved to Sangloupmon and fought off that Seadramon. I was scared of him then (and admittedly, his Champion level is still a little scary looking), but now I knew underneath that vicious and intimidating Digimon form was a kind, caring human. He saved me then, and I had to help save his memory now.

"Well, for now he's obviously not going to believe us. The only thing we can do is wait for him to get it back. We could speed it up a little by knocking some sense into him," Impmon replied. The idea of hitting Richard to get his memory back scared me, and I quickly responded.

"There's no need to do that. I-I think we should hold off here for now till he gets his memory back. We can't go on with him in this current state."

"Relax Salamon, I was just joking," Impmom responded, rolling his eyes. I had forgotten that Impmon was a bit rough and didn't fear making jokes like that.

"Yes, of course you were joking. Sorry for that," I responded shyly with embarrassment.

"I think she did make a good point though. With Richard like this, I'm not sure if it would be safe to travel. He's a bit more impatient and rough, like you Impmon, and with his memory gone to a degree he's also more likely to bolt off if things get bad," Veemon responded.

I watched as Impmon balled up his fist, upset at Veemon's remarks. It was sort of his fault we had ended up in the Real World for that short stint of time. He had gotten mad at Richard for being too trusting of former enemies, and had unknowingly made a 'deal with the devil' as Richard once said (when I can't remember) that got us sent to the Real World. I didn't mind it too much; sure, I was scared out of my wits, but I met this nice girl. I was still sad that I had to leave her so quickly, but maybe one of these days I could meet up with her again. Anyway, Impmon was rather upset with himself over that incident, and Veemon didn't make it easier by bringing it up. Veemon never seemed to be the kind of person to hold a grudge, so I don't know why he chose now to start.

"G-guys, let's not get into a fight please?" I pleaded. The two of them fighting was always a painful thing to watch, and even Richard had gotten annoyed with it. Like always, however, they ignored me, and soon they began getting into a shouting match with each other. Not wanting to deal with it, I headed over to Richard, hoping maybe sitting with him for awhile might jog something of his memory. He was now picking at his teeth, and I resisted asking what in the world he could have eaten to make him have to do that. I really didn't want to know.

**"Richard's", now Gazimon's, POV**

_iWonder what those two are up to?/i _I wondered as I saw the Veemon and Impmon had begun to start fighting each other over, well I didn't know what. Right now, all I was doing was laying up against the tree, using my claws to pick out some gunk that was in my teeth. I stopped, however, when I noticed that the Salamon was heading over to me.

"Planning on trying to convince me I'm this 'Richard' person again?" I said, trying to preempt any attempts by her. That seemed to have startled her a little, as she quickly began shaking her head no.

"I-I was just wanting to come over here to see if you were feeling better, and to get away from those two. I hate it when they argue..." she responded, looking at the ground sadly.

"Really? Well then, I don't mind at all. But don't worry about those two. If what you've guys have been telling me is true, then they'll patch it up in no time. Friends fight all the time, but when push comes to shove, they have each others back, right?" I responded, trying to cheer the Digimon up. I don't know why, but I hated seeing her depressed like that. It had to be her face; there was no way anybody with a heart could let a cute face like that stay sad. Apparently it worked, because she was looking up at him, a small smile on her face.

"I guess that's true. They fight a lot, but when a battle starts they're rather quick to have each other's backs. Though I do wish they didn't fight so much...." she responded. Before I could say anything though, she was talking again.

"Anyway, how are you feeling?"

I shrugged.

"Eh, fine I guess. Admittedly my memory is still a little fuzzy, but I know that you all are at least my friends. I think we met you at...Primary Village, correct? The place was under attack from some of Daemon's forces, and Veemon and I Digivolved to save the place, and you joined us afterwards."

I was a bit surprised to see Salamon's face light up so quickly. Apparently I was right on the mark with that statement, and it was cheering her up some. Then again, I guess if one of my friends had lost their memory, I'd be rather glad to see them remember something important like how we first met. She nodded her head, and then gave me a smile.

"Yes, that's absolutely correct. Maybe your amnesia wasn't as bad as we thought." She replied. I gave her a grin.

"Well, can't remember it all perfectly, but I knew that much. Say, just to ask, did I look rather cool during it all?" I asked, wondering what I looked like when I was in full fighting force. She paused for a second, and I almost repeated the question when she started talking again.

"Oh, yeah, I guess you were. Admittedly I was afraid of you at first, what with being a Sangloupmon and all. I had heard they were vicious Digimon and very dangerous, but you proved that wrong. And after seeing your strength...and Veemon's of course," she let out a small, nervous laugh for some reason, "Well, I guess I wanted to have some of it as well. But trust me, you look wonderful when you're fighting.

I wasn't exactly sure why, but as she spoke, Salamon hadn't looked me in the eye once, and she had sounded kind of nervous as well. I had a vague feeling about what that behavior was supposed to mean, but I couldn't...ah, that was it. When you acted nervous around a person like that, you were scared of them. No, that wasn't it; she already said she had gotten over it. So the only other feeling I could think of was her 'liking' me...or she was just a very shy Digimon. From what I did remember, she always acted like this, so it probably wasn't anything special. I was just over-thinking the entire thing.

**Impmon's POV**

"Look Veemon, this fighting's getting nowhere. Let's take a break all right?" I replied with a heavy breath.

I know I screwed up big time by betraying all of us just over a petty argument. However, that didn't give Veemon the right to rub it in my face. Ironically, he's acting just like I did when it all began; I didn't want to trust Digimon that had been working for the Demon Lords, and he didn't want to trust me because I had betrayed them. It was a strange reversal, and I did point it out to him, which lead to us now breaking up the fight. We both realized it was rather pointless, and it was upsetting Salamon anyway. She was always so sensitive, the little 'pup' as I called her. Then again, I guess I would be upset if my friends were arguing all the time like Veemon and I did.

For now, however, I wanted to get away from it all to cool off. I wanted to work on my temper some, to be less 'impatient and rough' as Veemon called it. Betraying them all, and seeing all the damage that did to us, had left me feeling rather bad about myself. I wasn't depressed, but even after Digivolving to Ultimate level and defeating SkullSatamon, I still didn't feel like I had made it up to them. In fact, I don't think there was any way I could ever make it up to them; it was still so surprising to me that Richard and Salamon were so quick to forgive me, though Veemon was still holding a bit of a grudge from it.

Speaking of Richard, this new development had me worried. First off, I don't think our group could handle another me (something Veemon had said that I had to grudgingly agree with). He wasn't exactly like me now, but he was heading in that direction. Sarcasm was apparent, and he was a bit more snippy as well. In the past Richard was like Salamon to a degree; he hated the fighting, and got tired of it. Unlike her, however, he would at least try and step in. He was tougher than he looked when he wanted to be, and Gazimon are some tough looking Digimon to begin with (not to mention his Champion form being a Sangloupmon). Even if I disagreed with his perspective on the world, I had to give the guy respect, and I hoped that his memory would return soon.

For now, however, it was time to take a break from them all and rest up. We were near an ocean, and while I did fear that something would come out and get me (happened the last time we were at sea), the others were close enough they'd hear the commotion and rescue me. They always did. Besides, I could go Ultimate anyway; I'd be handle just about anything that came my way.

Laying down on the sand, I took a breath in of that salty air. I never understood the attraction of it; it just smelled funny to me. The sound of the lapping of the waves sounded rather relaxing though; maybe that's why everybody vacationed on the beach. That, or since there was absolutely nothing around here but the sea and beach they just got bored and fell asleep. Speaking of sleep, for some odd reason I felt rather sleepy, even after being out for so long after falling through that portal. Maybe it was just the stress of dealing with Veemon and Richard's amnesia that was getting to me. Add in the hypnotic sounds of the waves and warm sand, well, I was getting droopy.

"A small nap wouldn't hurt at all. Just a short one though..." I said with a yawn before settling down for a nap. As I fell asleep, I felt a cool breeze bringing up a spray of ocean mist.

**Veemon's POV**

"That Impmon, he's such a pain sometimes," I said as I sat up against a tree, watching as the imp-Digimon walked off on his own.

I had no clue what his problem was. Well, he probably still felt bad about betraying them all, but that was actually something to feel bad about. How could one betray their friends and then expect them to just give it up so easily. Then again, he did Digivolve to Ultimate level to fight off and beat SkullSatamon, who did all the actual work; he had just taken advantage of a moment of weakness for Impmon to do something he probably already planned on doing. Besides, Salamon and 'Gazimon' as he wanted to be called now had forgiven him already. Right now I was the only holdout, and maybe I was being too hard on him. We forgave those Digimon that had worked for Duskmon; maybe I could do the same for Impmon.

Still, that didn't mean he had to run off by himself like that. Why did he have to do that anyway? I preferred to talk about my issues, maybe to a fault. That Digimon, however, just couldn't talk about anything. If they ever wanted to make any progress learning anything from him, all three of them had to gang up on him and force it out of him. I may not be that great at understanding people at times, but even I knew it was usually a smart idea to let out your emotions and not bottle them up. Then again, maybe this was my fault as well? Admittedly, Impmon did try and talk before, and I usually just dismissed it or yelled at him.

"It has been my fault, hasn't it?" I mumbled to myself. Maybe I was just being to hard on the guy; we were just so different in personality we just naturally clashed. I was more, oh what was that word that Richard used once, rambunctious and 'extroverted'? And Impmon was, according to Richard, the opposite; introverted. Accordingly, we were going to clash. Well, that wasn't going to happen anymore. We were friends and a team; we're in a new part of the Digital World with much more dangers ahead than what we faced. There was no way we could survive arguing with each other all the time.

I pushed myself up, looked over at 'Gazimon', who was still talking to Salamon. Those two always seemed to get along so well; then again, Impmon had been the only one who really had issues with her...and I had some to a degree. She was a rather shy and cowardly Digimon at times, but in her defense, ever since she had joined up with them she had gotten much stronger. At least she had the courage to talk to without apologizing and shutting up immediately afterwards. She could go a minute or two before doing that.

Leaving them alone, I headed towards the beach where Impmon was supposed to be. Oddly enough, however, there was a layer of mist filling the area, or was it fog? Either way, it probably wasn't a good thing. I never heard of a fog around an ocean, though it might have been possible. Not sure, but oh well, that wasn't the point. Right now, however, I had to find Impmon and make sure that he was all right. If a Digimon attacked right now, there would be a big issue in sight. Even with my rather good eyes (or I believe my eyes are good at least) I had trouble seeing it was so thick.

"Impmon! Impmon! Where are you?" I yelled out, then realizing that wasn't a good idea. Maybe Impmon had a point about me being a bit idiotic at times.

As I walked, however, I tumbled right on the ground. I spat out a face full of sand, and then turned around to see what it was I had tripped on; it was Impmon. Normally I would have probably said something to him about sleeping in the middle of nowhere, but I was too concerned about our safety to worry about it.

"Hey Impmon, wake up. I don't like the look of this fog. Let's head out all right?" I said, patting him a bit on the head to wake him up. He started to wake up, and I was about to say something when I saw him wide-eyed and rather scared.

"What is it? I'm not that scary am I?" I asked.

"Veemon, you might want to turn around and possibly run before you die." He said. I turned around, and I really wished I didn't.

**Impmon's POV**

I was shaken awake to the sound of a rather familiar sound. It was Veemon, and he actually sounded worried about something. Obviously I was still a bit ticked about something, but one thing you learn around here is that when someone is worried about something, it's probably a good thing to follow along. That was something I picked up from Richard there; every time he had a bad feeling about something, he tended to be right.

Of course, something that really helped was that as I woke up, there was something looming in the fog right behind Veemon, and it did not look friendly. It was the size of one of those really tall buildings I saw back in Richard's world, and the deep, red eyes that were in that dark figure didn't help things out that much. In my entire life, I have never seen a Digimon that was as large as this thing was. I warned Veemon to turn around and make a run for it, but he froze in fear as well. For once I could actually agree with him.

"Get a move on you idiot." I yelled as I sat up, pushing him aside. As I did, I could spot a large, dark blue tentacle reaching out for us. Veemon got out of the way in time. I, however, did not get so lucky. I struggled as the slimy, wet tentacle wrapped around me, squeezing the life out of me.

The worse part is I couldn't do anything back. Tied up like this, I couldn't fight back. My arms were too restricted, so I couldn't even use my Badaboom attack. Digivolving, of course, was right out of the question. At least Veemon was safe; he'd run off and get some help, right? Or would he act like himself and try and fight back...that was probably what was going to happen.

What was this Digimon anyway? As I struggled, I was being brought closer and closer towards what I am guessing was his head. I, I really had no way to describe it. From what I could see, it's entire head looked similar in shape to an Octomon, except it was blue, and had this strange, red-colored pattern on its head of two curvy line s with some triangles sticking out an arrow in the middle. The creepiest part was that the tentacles were moving; they weren't for decoration. His jaw was becoming unhinged, preparing to eat me no less. Of course that was how I was to be killed; eaten by some giant abomination from the depths of the sea. Why couldn't anything normal ever happen to me?

"V-Breath Arrow!"

A giant blast of energy cut right through the tentacle I was on, and as I fell I could get a better look at what it was we were facing. Apparently this thing was almost all tentacles cause all the other 'arms' and 'legs' were either giant tentacles or tentacles tied together. Whatever this Digimon was, I hoped I would inever/i see this thing again.

**Veemon's POV**

I had dodged the attack by, well, I had no clue what Digimon this was. All I saw of it was a giant tentacle, and it's foreboding figure in the fog. It was the creepiest Digimon I had ever seen, and we've had to deal with Duskmon before so we know creepy. I was nothing compared to it in size; even my Champion level was nothing compared to it. Speaking of which, now was probably a good time for me to Digivolve, wasn't it?

A surge of power flowed through me as my form shifted into that of Veedramon. I knew I should have went and got Salamon and Gazimon, but I had to save Impmon first. He was currently heading straight toward this 'things' mouth. By the time the other two got here he'd be eaten for sure. Charging up an attack, I gave it all I got as I fired a V-Breath Arrow attack. It turned out to be a direct hit, and soon Impmon and the tentacle were falling straight toward the ground.

Considering my size, I was surprised to find myself running across the sand to try and catch Impmon. I got to the spot just in time to grab ahold of him, but was crushed by the tentacle. It was rather depressing to me that this one tentacle was larger than me; and from the looks of things, this Digimon had a lot of tentacles. I heaved it off me, and then set Impmon on the ground. He was breathing hard, probably because this was the only good breath he had gotten. That tentacle had done a good number on him, and it didn't look like he would be able to run off and get the others.

"Great, that leaves it up to me to fight the giant several stories tall monster." I said sarcastically. Still, I had to at least hold it off, and hope that the commotion would bring the others running. Still, there was no way this thing was a Champion level, and it wouldn't have surprised me if it was a very powerful Ultimate or even a Mega level Digimon. I was going to make my stand; Impmon had stood up against SkullSatamon to save us; I could stand against this thing to save him.

"All right you overgrown Octomon, why don't you show me what you got. I can take it." I said defiantly...and to be a little morale booster for myself cause I was shaking throughout my entire body. I took a deep breath to calm myself as another tentacle came towards me, and then began to charge another attack.

Something else happened. I felt a massive surge of energy that was way too much to be for my attack. The last time I had felt such a surge was when I Digivolved into Veedramon for the first time, and the glowing around me that followed told me I was Digivolving again. I grinned; apparently I might have a chance against this thing at all. At least it gave me some time; the tentacle froze as I started glowing, like it was scared of it or something.

As the light faded, I got the chance to get a good luck at myself. I looked rather the same, even though I knew I wasn't. I was larger and stronger, and just a little bit below my elbow on both arms were two large blades. A twitch on my back gave me cause to look back there, and I found I was sporting two large wings. I gained flight? Well, that would turn out to be handy. I had this innate knowledge of sort telling me I was an "AeroVeedramon". Well, the wings were probably the reason for that name.

Turning my attention back to this tentacle-monster of a Digimon, I watched as the tentacled headed towards me. I didn't run, and I wasn't shaking. Instead, I grabbed ahold of it, and I think I actually scared this behemoth. Apparently no one had ever grabbed ahold of his tentacle, and he started to pull away. I dug in my claws, however, and held on tight.

"You're not getting away from me...whatever you are. I'm not running when my friends are in danger." I yelled out. The Digimon paused for a moment, and then resumed pulling. I couldn't hold onto it for long, but this was just enough time for me to get a shot in.

"Now then, feel the power of Dragon Impulse!"

The energy I had charged for a V-Breath Arrow was now being used as the basis for this attack, and soon a blast of energy shaped like a dragon was shooting right towards his face. He didn't move at all; instead, he took it full blast and began to reel backwards. I let go of the tentacle, and the lack of resistance on my part helped in his fall. With a giant splash he fell into the water, and I was soon drenched in water.

I was breathing hard; that attack took a lot of energy to pull of, and I so hoped I had enough energy to pull out another attack if needed cause within seconds it was starting to get backed up. It gave me an evil glare, but instead of attacking, it turned around and began to head towards the sea again with a growl or moan of some sort. I was rather relieved I didn't have to fight this thing anymore.

As it left, the fog began to disappear, and soon it was as if he had never appeared at all. Collapsing, I felt the energy disappear as I degenerated back into Veemon. Now that the coast was clear, I fell asleep. I couldn't stay awake after all that after all...

**Gazimon's POV**

"So when do you think they'll wake up?" Salamon asked me as she stared over at Impmon and Veemon.

"Beats me; they looked rather worn out. Something must have happened on that beach, but I have no clue what. All I saw before I got there was this huge thing disappearing into the sea, and another Digimon that degenerated into Veemon there. Whatever it was, apparently Veemon took care of it with some new Digivolution." I replied, stoking the fire that we had made.

It had been a few hours since I found Impmon and Veemon unconscious out on the beach. I was out planning on getting some fish for dinner, and had witnessed the end of what must have been a big battle. With Salamon's help I had dragged them here, and we set up camp for the night. It was now dark, and there were two fish waiting to be cooked for the two of them to eat on should they feel hungry afterwards (of course they would be; every Digimon was hungry almost all the time).

"I hope they're all right..." Salamon replied, worriedly watching them.

"Don't worry about it; those two are tough. Besides, think about this; Veemon just saved Impmon, and since Impmon saved Veemon and us earlier, they're even. Which means..."

It took Salamon a moment to figure it out, "That maybe they'll stop fighting as much?" she asked hopefully.

"Bingo. Now then, why don't you head off to bed, and I'll keep watch till these two are up, all right? Besides, I'm more of a night person anyway."

Salamon resisted, but a little more prodding from me and she was off to sleep, curling up by the fire. I had to smile a little bit at the look of her; the sight was rather adorable. However, Impmon and Veemon were having their own moment, sleeping rather close together for two Digimon who had earlier been fighting like enemies. Of course, I had set them up like that; they'll have a nice surprise when they woke up. And after that, it was story time cause there was no way I was going to be left out of the loop on whatever it was that happened out there. Till then, however, I think I'll be enjoying these fish.

* * *

"It seems that those Digimon from File Island have successfully made their way to the Server Continent. Two of them have now gained the ability to Digivolve to the Ultimate level, and the others will most likely not be far behind. These four are turning out to be more troublesome than I thought. However,"

At that moment the robed figure of Daemon turned his attention to towards the figure below him. It was a humanoid figure, but between the long, lanky limbs, hole-filled wings, pure,white skin, and the horns on his head, no one could mistake him as a human. There was only one Digimon with these features, and this one Digimon had been the only one to ever succeed in defeating one of these Digimon in a fight; IceDevimon.

"I do have a plan in motion that will be involving you IceDevimon. As you are the only Digimon who has so far defeated one of these Digimon in combat, and have years of experience in battle anyway, I wanted to take advantage of your skills." Daemon continued, sitting on his throne as IceDevimon looked up at him, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

"Oh, would you like me to exterminate them? I've been looking forward to fighting that Impmon again. He was such delicious fun last time." He replied, licking his lips in anticipation.

"No, no, that's not what you meant. Even with your power you'd be no much in a four on one fight. Instead, we'll be creating, oh how do you, clones of you. You see, my armies and science-inclined Digimon have succeeded in creating a process that will allow us to mass produce powerful Digimon. Obviously it needs to be tested, and what better way than to create a squadron of Digimon to take down these four, hm? All that it shall take is some of your data."

IceDevimon looked confused, but the arrival of a large, clawed hand around his throat soon fixed that. He struggled to escape, but found himself being drained of energy.

"Don't worry, you won't be killed yet. You're much to valuable. Besides, I always pay those who assist me handsomely. Soon you will be more powerful than you ever expected, with an army of, what did that Datamon say, NeoDevimon at your control...mostly. Obviously, if you betray me, I will destroy, and trust me, I can."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow, what a doozy of a first chapter back, right? At least in length. Anyway, don't forget to review and tell me what you think, and whether or not this story is worth it to keep working on it. Oh, and for those of you who have read all the other chapters, what you like better; Gazimon/Salamon or Impmon/Salamon. Or neither if, you know, you want me to keep messing with you all on pairing stuff XD.


	16. Angel's Arrival: Part 1

**Author's Note: **This chapter I decided to play around with a different format for the story. The rest of the chapters have been in shifting first-third person as well as in past tense. This time around I'm testing out shifting first-person views. So when I say "Salamon's POV", I literally mean "Salamon's POV". I'm also testing out the present tense instead of past tense, but that's because as I started typing it all up it just kind of went that way. Tell me what you think about the different format compared to the old one ^_^.

* * *

**Salamon's POV:**

It's been a few days since we've returned to the Digital World and Veemon went into the Ultimate level. Him and Impmon haven't been fighting as much as they used to, but they still get into a few fights here and there. At least they are friendlier fights and not all out brawls like they were in the past. I always hated it when they did that. I would usually just walk away from everyone, leaving poor Richard there to try and play the mediator; it usually didn't work out, and they either end up fighting or go their separate ways for a bit. Considering how the Digital World is right now though, that usually ended up rather bad. But, they've stopped that now, so everything is going along great.

Well, not everything really. Ever since we've gotten back, Richard's been acting rather funny, as if he is an actual Gazimon and not some human turned into a Digimon. I think the term Impmon used to describe it was 'amnesia,' which means he has simply lost his memory of being a human. I can't even imagine how that would be like, to forget everything that ever meant anything to you. Then again, as far as "Gazimon" is concerned, we're all a bunch of weird, crazy Digimon to even think a human could be a Digimon. His personality has also changed a little; he acts like some strange mix of his normal self and Impmon. Sure, he's still a generally nice guy, but he's a bit more eager to fight as well as a bit more 'crude' I guess. We all hoped this would wear off soon since amnesia is supposed to be temporary, but so far it hasn't. I hope he gets his memory back soon….

Right now I'm just kind of lying around since it is getting dark and we're hoping to be able to track down something to eat for the night. Even though there are plenty of trees and sources of food around here, much of them have been picked clean, and the rest have other Digimon defending them rather harshly. We've had to battle for food sometimes, and with Veemon and Impmon able to go Ultimate if needed it's been kind of easy. They don't like doing it though; they want to save such things for fighting Daemon's forces.

Speaking of which, it's been kind of quiet around here; we haven't heard of anything of him lately, not that I'm complaining of course. It's nice to finally get some relative relaxation in…and he kind of scares me. His forces are filled with terrifying Digimon like Devidramon and Bakemon and all other sort of creepy things you would see in your nightmares. Every time I see one I just want to run away and act as if I've never gotten involved in all of this…but I can't and I won't. I'm not a scared little puppy anymore, at least not since I've met Richard and the others. They don't seem to have any fear at all in running towards danger, so I have to do the same.

_Gurgle Gurgle…_

Great, now my stomach is starting to act up. Veemon and Impmon were going out for food, and Richard (guess I should be calling him 'Gazimon' like he has asked) started staring at me oddly from his position underneath a tree.

"Don't worry, I'm all right" I said preemptively, giving him a bit of a goofy, nervous grin and hoping that he would accept the offer.

"Just surprised someone your size can make such large noises. If I didn't know any better I would have thought you were an Ogremon or something," he replied back with a slight grin of mocking.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" I responded, a little embarrassed that I was being compared to an Ogremon of all things. Sadly, I didn't get an answer back; I was just given a simple grin and he went back to sleep. Since I really don't want to bother him, I guess it would be a good idea to follow his cue and try and sleep myself…at least till Veemon and Impmon get back.

**Veemon's POV:**

"I can't wait to tell the others what we found!" I said excitedly as Impmon and I rushed through the woods, heading back to where Gazimon and Salamon were staying.

Today had been rather interesting really. After not having that great of a breakfast (just a small amount of fruit that could be found) and asking "Gazimon" about his day (to see if his memory was back…it wasn't), Impmon and I had to head out to find food. Things have been rather tough lately; for some odd reason this part of Server has been picked cleaned of food. Daemon must have had something to do with it; probably wanting to feed his armies or something. Some Digimon heavily guarded the few places that still had food, but we all agreed fighting Digimon like that wasn't a good idea. Mostly because we didn't want to be seen as bandits or bullies, which would give other Digimon pretty good reasons to resist us. We're supposed to be the good guys, and sadly that means we kind of have to give up on food, even when we need it. Good guys don't fight innocent, starving Digimon just to take there food, right?

Anyway, the point was the two of us had finally found a solution to our food problem…or at least a temporary solution. Which is why right now I was running full speed ahead back to the camp. Impmon was behind me, yelling at me to slow down, but I didn't. The guy needed an energy boost anyway.

"I'm not slowing down till we reach camp you slowpoke." I yelled back, giving him a grin. Sure, we didn't fight as much as we used too after I saved him back at the beach, but that didn't mean I couldn't mess with him a bit. He just responded with a roll to his eyes before jumping at me with newfound speed.

"Fine, if it's a race you want, it's a race you'll get." He responded before dashing ahead of me. Shocked he could pick up speed so quickly, I started pumping all the energy I could into my legs. I caught up to him, and was about to surpass him when suddenly the campsite came into view. Distracted…I hit a tree branch and had the wind knocked out of me. By the time I recovered and got back to the camp, Impmon and the others were sitting around waiting for me.

"Guess I win this round, huh Veemon? Didn't think a tough guy like you could be taken out by a stick." He said, mocking me as payback for earlier. I just ignored it; normally that would have gotten us throwing comments at each other, but I was too good in a mood right now for that.

"Whatever Impmon. Anyway, I think we found a solution to our little food problem."

Gazimon and Salamon looked up at that with the whole "Wow, really" look on their faces. Grinning with victory, I decided to stop beating around the bush and get straight to the story. It wasn't that long of a story after all.

"Well, you see, while the two of us were out looking for food, we were attacked by some Unimon. You know, the whole usual 'Hey, that's our food'. So a fight broke out, with Impmon and I Digivolving to Champion level. Oh, it was one heck of a fight, with attacks being thrown left and right, fire and lightning, oh it was so awesome that…"

"Get on with it Veemon; we're kind of starving here," Impmon interrupted with a slight growl.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, the fight is going on when all of a sudden more of those Unimon show up. Must have been a herd of them living nearby. We were totally surrounded by them, but since we didn't have a good breakfast we really didn't have the energy to go Ultimate. It looked like certain doom when this, what was it, a Taomon appears out of nowhere and chases them off. She gives us some food and then offers to take us to this small home of hers to let us rest. Of course we had to come and get you all first; can't leave you here to starve, right?" I said, finally finishing my story. Salamon and Gazimon looked rather suspicious, and my grin started to fade a little until Impmon spoke up.

"In short, Veemon got beat up by a Unimon, a Taomon helped us, and she also offered to let us rest up at her place."

I gave him a rather sour look; I was just trying to be a good storyteller and he ruined it with his 'facts'. Besides, that Unimon had sneaked up on me. How was I supposed to defend myself when the only warning I have is a hoof an inch from my face and neighing?

"Now that is a more believable story…no offense there Veemon." Gazimon responded as he stood up. The rest of us followed suite.

"Anyway, if this is true, I think it's best if we take this Taomon up on her offer. If she rescued Veemon there and offered food, she can't be all that bad, right? Just lead the way Veemon."

"Aye-aye Gazimon. Everybody, just follow me to food, sleep, and then more food!" I responded, triumphantly running back in the direction we arrived in, with the others protesting as they worked to keep up. This time I did slow down, mostly because if Salamon got left behind the others would kill me, even if she could just Digivolve into Gatomon. Cats were supposed to be agile and graceful, right?

**Salamon's POV:**

"Hey, could you all slow down a bit? These legs aren't really good for running," I yelled out to the others. Sometimes the small, stubby legs of my Salamon form could be a bit of a pain. Sure, small little sprints were fine, but they weren't that great for the long run running that was required of us sometimes. In those cases Richard would carry me on his back (he ran on all fours, so I was more secure on him or something), but right now he wasn't doing that. Instead, I was having to work harder than any of them just to catch up.

"Sure thing Salamon." I heard Veemon yell out from the front, and soon everybody's pacing was slowed down enough that I wasn't being left in the dust.

"How far is it anyway?" I asked, wondering how long this would last. Before getting an answer, however, I spotted Impmon talking to Gazimon about something, and the next thing I knew he was walking over to me.

"Impmon reminded me that I used to carry you on my back when we had to run like this. So do you want a ride or keep running like this. It won't bother me that much so don't worry about it." He asked, laying down on the ground for a second to let me get on his back.

While I was glad to have been given the offer, I also didn't want to bother him. Sure, he said he didn't mind, but everyone says that when they are offering help. Besides, I had a feeling Impmon was making him do it, and I would have rather had him do it of his own free will. As if sensing my hesitation about it, Gazimon rolled his eyes at me.

"No, Impmon isn't making me do this. He just suggested it, pointing out I used to do it for you all the time. So just hop on my back already so we can get moving and get something to eat," he said, giving a small grin at the end to show he was joking about it all.

"Please, let me know if I'm being a bother for you, okay?" I replied as I hopped onto his back, holding on tightly (which is rather hard if you don't have actual claws or hands), and was soon whisked away as Gazimon ran to catch up with the others.

"You're such a worry-wart Salamon. You're lighter than a feather and can be quiet; a perfect riding companion. Now, if it had been Veemon or Impmon wanting the ride…" he said, looking at the other two who just looked back at him with a gentle glare. I had to laugh a little bit at the thought; who could ever imagine someone as energetic as Veemon riding him? Poor Gazimon would be tired out not only from running, but Veemon's chatting. Veemon was nice and all, but he could talk up a storm.

"Just to ask, is it Pick-On-Veemon-Day or something?" The blue dragon-dinosaur Digimon responded with a joking inquiry. Impmon just nodded a response.

"When was it not?"

The two of them get into an argument, but the cheery tone that was in their voices showed it was all in jest. Of course, that also left Gazimon and me out of the conversation as they exchanged friendly insults.

"I'm just glad they aren't being so bitter about it anymore, aren't you Salamon?" Gazimon asked, glancing up at me.

"Oh, yeah, of course. I always hated it when they fought. Friends really shouldn't fight like that." I responded. Gazimon just grinned at me before looking ahead at the two of them. I thought for a moment he was just done talking, but within seconds he was speaking again.

"I noticed that about you. Personally, I think it's rather sweet to think that. Then again, you seem to be rather kind Digimon so I guess it isn't a surprise."

Such a comment was obviously a little stunning. I really don't know why, but I felt a little flustered at the comment, and had to think for a second before I could get an actual response out to him.

"T-thank you Gazimon. You seem like a rather nice, um, Digimon as well." The comment kept him smiling, but he didn't say anything else, instead simply focusing on the race ahead as they began heading towards, well, wherever we were supposed to be going. I followed his example and simply sat on his back, holding on as best I could. With all this rhythmic bouncing, however, I soon found myself getting rather sleepy, and within minutes I was out like a light.

**Gazimon's POV:**

It really isn't that big of a deal to carry Salamon on my back. As Impmon pointed out, I used to do it all the time. Besides, as I said, she is rather light; it's almost as if there is nothing on my back at all. Not like what would happen if Veemon or Impmon were on my back. Those two would probably crush my spine, and Veemon would talk me to death. So I had no qualms about carrying her on my back. Her "hope I'm not being a bother" act was starting to get a little old though. She always blamed herself, and she always acted as if she was being a bother. That just wasn't right; she was part of this team after all. People like that, while kind and sweet, always got on my nerves a little bit. I hated seeing people put themselves down as if they were worthless. She was kind, and she could hold her own in a fight; there was nothing about her that was bothersome.

Besides, she agreed with me on how the Veemon/Impmon fights could get annoying. While we were filled in on the details about that battle on the beach, actually seeing them getting along was still a surprise. But hey, whatever kept them from killing each other, right? I worked as the mediator between them in the past, according to them, and whenever they fought I felt that urge to step in. Not having to deal with that anymore was perfectly fine with me. Then again, having them taunting each other all the time made me nervous they would break out into a fight again. Must have been a reaction on their part to their new friendship, a safe way to vent out their frustrations to each other.

There was one thing that weirded me out though; her reaction to me calling her 'kind'. She seemed rather embarrassed by it all, and stuttered a little when she spoke. I really didn't know how to respond to that, so I didn't say anything. Salamon followed my example and was quiet as well. Since Veemon and Impmon were still talking, that just left me to think to myself. Obviously, my thoughts were stuck on Salamon's reactions. I don't know why, but I felt like I knew that kind of reaction from somewhere, I just didn't know where. I also didn't know what it meant, but it was supposed to mean something. I racked my brain trying to figure it out, and the only thing that came to mind was embarrassed. Of course, I already knew that so it didn't help; I needed to know what she was embarrassed about.

Well, the easiest thing to do is ask, so I turned around, only to be met with a puff of air as she breathed deeply in sleep. She was so adorable when she did that, curling up and looking so peaceful. I slowed down a little so she didn't fall off, something that quickly caught Veemon's attention.

"Hey, why you slowing…oh, Salamon fell asleep on yah. If you want one of us can carry her."

I shook my head. "No, I'm good. I'll just slow down enough that she won't fall off. Besides, it could wake her moving her between us."

"Eh, whatever, we're there anyway so it's no big deal."

"We're there?" I asked, and moved my head so I could see past Veemon and the trees. It was quite the sight, and not anything I had expected.

It was a small temple, and my mind was screaming about me seeing the design before. The only thing that came through, however, was that it was a pagoda. It was a small structure, about three stories high. Off to the side were some small buildings that were probably housing or storage. The pagoda itself had a reddish color theme to it, with a gold color edge on the roofs. Shape wise it was a simple square, though the roofs curved out a little to give it an ornamental design. There were steps on each side leading up to it, and some Leomon-like sculptures decorating the entrance. Overall it was a rather impressive design, if small in size.

The more interesting sight, however, was what was on the roof; a Taomon. Like the temple, the Digimon was ornately dressed, wearing white robes with a cloth going down the front, covering the purple pants. The robes had very long sleeves, going past the Taomon's paws, and having red triangles. There was also some yin-yang symbols on the robe, with the largest being in the center of the chest. Add in the black hat, and you had a rather fancily dressed up kitsune. Right now, this kitsune was drinking some tea on the roof. Upon noticing us, however, she set the tea down and jumped straight down in front of us. The sudden arrival made us all step back, waking Salamon up as well.

"Are we there yet?" she said with a yawn before lazily moving around to get a better look. Taomon had the answer.

"Yes, welcome to my home young Digimon. I met your friend Veemon there earlier and extended an invitation to house you for the time being. I know of your efforts in defeating Daemon; many of the Digimon in the area have. You have provided great hope for them, and I thank you for your valiant efforts."

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's nothing that hard. We'll whop that Demon Lord good, right guys," Veemon said, having to get his little moment of glory into the conversation. We all agreed with him of course, and the group wide agreement made the Taomon give off a little smile.

"I am glad to see such enthusiasm in you all. Please, come with me and I will show you your rooms."

**Salamon's POV:**

Waking up with a yawn, I found out we had finally made it to this wonderful place Veemon had been talking about. The Taomon in charge of the place greeted us and then offered to take a tour of the place. I found it odd no one else lived in such a big place like this; had something happened? I was, however, too tired to really say anything; I was always like that after a nap. So I had no choice to simply sit on Gazimon's back and hope she would explain things. Glancing around, I had to admit it was a very nice place to live, if a bit intimidating. Those Leomon statues were going to give me nightmares, I knew it.

Impmon seem to have the same track of mind as I did about no one else being there, though, as he asked about it. For a split second I thought I saw worry on Taomon's face, but she then turned around and started talking in a rather melancholy tone.

"In the past this temple served as a safe haven for many Digimon who were injured, starving, or hurt by Daemon's armies. I was in charge of the place, serving as its defender. I was assisted by many kinds of Digimon, and those who I helped tended to stay to help as well in thanks. Everything was going well, until Daemon's armies caught wind of what we were doing. One night, while I was away to gather herbs for medicine, the temple was attacked, and all the Digimon dragged off. I do not know what he has done with them, but knowing Daemon, it is probably best we don't know."

The Taomon turned her back on them for a moment, leaving us all to think about it. Gazimon and all the others looked rather serious, and I felt some pity for the Digimon. All alone, everyone she knew gone and possibly deleted, her home attacked. Considering that was how I was involved in all this, when Daemon's forces destroyed Primary Village, I had to sympathize with her. Slipping off of Gazimon's back, I walked up to Taomon and sat down next to her, looking up. She caught my eye and looked down at me.

"I know what you're going through right now; scared, alone, worried about all your friends. I felt the same way when Primary Village was attacked. But then I met these three, and with their help I've gotten over it. I mean, I still miss them all, but I'm not scared anymore. I want to do all I can to stop Daemon so no one has to loose their friends like this ever again."

Taomon smiled, looking down at me for a second before looking back up at the others.

"It seems you've found quite the friend in this Salamon. I hope you all have been taking care of her well."

They all nodded, and she glanced at me again before looking ahead. She started to walk again, and we all followed her as she took us to a small building with a sliding door. Opening it, she showed us a small room with pads and a table filled with fruits and food. Veemon and Impmon started drooling over it, and Gazimon was resisting the urge to do the same. I'll admit, it all smelled rather good. Was it all for us? It was kind of odd to have a meal already prepared, especially since it was so big. Then again, she was an Ultimate; if Rookies could clean out a restaurant, then an Ultimate had to have quite the appetite.

"I was preparing this for myself, but from your condition I think it is better for you to have the meal. I can make myself something to eat later. For now, I leave you to rest."

With a small bow, Taomon left the four of us alone in the room. Within seconds, Veemon and Impmon were munching down on food. I was surprised really; Impmon used to be so distrusting of others. I guess after that incident with Skull Satamon he wanted to be more trusting of other Digimon wanting to help us. That, or maybe even 'tough' old Impmon couldn't resist the temptation of food. Gazimon was a little more restrained, but not by much. I simply sat off to the side a little, slowly munching my food instead of gobbling it all down like they were. I munched quietly as they all talked.

"Ooomph", Veemon said as he took a bite out of some fruit, "I'm glad we met such a nice Digimon like Taomon. I thought we were going to starve out there. Too bad about what happened to her friends though. I can't wait to get our hands on Daemon so we can throw it all back in his face."

Impmon was munching on some kind of meat, and responded to Veemon.

"I'll admit this is pretty nice. Warm room, soft ground to sleep on, food. And I'm with you on that. Daemon won't know what hit him when we're done. I've seen enough of his minions to last a lifetime."

As the two of them chatted on how they were going to beat up Daemon, Gazimon just ate without saying a word. This was one of the things that came over from Richard's personality. Richard talked of course, but he was willing to think about what he said before actually saying it. That, or in this case he was distracted by the food; no Digimon could resist the lure of food.

"Hey Salamon, that was rather deep of you earlier, when you talked to Taomon."

I snapped back to attention as Veemon spoke up, and I just gave out a rather shy "I guess." When I said all that I didn't think it was that deep; I was just trying to let Taomon know I sympathized with her. To get called on it like that was a little embarrassing, not that there was anything wrong with that. She just wasn't used to being praised.

Eventually the meal was finished, but Taomon never came by to get the food. Veemon just piled it up outside, though I really think we should have taken it inside or wash it ourselves. But we were all tired, and Veemon's suggestion of just heading off to sleep was very tempting. Everybody agreed with that plan, and soon everybody was taking up some part of the floor. Veemon and Impmon were on their own separate mats in the corners, and Gazimon had found a spot in between. The only real empty spot left was in front of the door, and, well, no one likes sleeping near a slight draft. Considering how active Veemon is during the day (and the snoring), however, it wasn't a good idea to sleep by him. He'd probably kick me in the face or something by accident. Same thing with Impmon; those two just didn't rest.

With that in mind, I once again had to bother Gazimon, who was resting rather comfortably. Taking up the rest of the spot on the mat, I curled up beside him and closed my eyes, hoping to get some sleep. Even with my earlier nap, a full stomach worked wonders to put me back to sleep, and I was soon drifting off to dreamland.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'll admit, this chapter was all fluff to a degree. However, do not fear; this is also setting up for small plot. It is a two-parter after all. So, uhm, just enjoy the fluffiness and be glad we aren't having Digimon trying to kill our heroes for once.


End file.
